Contemporary characteristics and outcomes of adults with familial dilated cardiomyopathy listed for heart transplantation

BACKGROUND: Familial dilated cardiomyopathy (FDCM) account for 20%-30% of non-ischemic cardiomyopathies (NICM). Previous published data showed that some patients with FDCM tend to have rapidly progressive disease; however, five-year mortality was not significantly different in the familial and non-familial forms of NICM with optimal medical therapy. AIM: To better define the characteristics and clinical outcomes of FDCM patients listed for heart transplantation (HT). METHODS: We queried the United Network for Organ Sharing Registry to identify FDCM patients listed for HT between January 2008 and September 2015 and compared them to NICM and ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) patients. We included all patients ≥ 18 years old and we separated patients to three groups: FDCM, NICM and ICM. Chi-square test was used to compare between categorical variables, the t-test was used to compare between continues variables, and Cox-proportional hazards model was used to perform time-dependent survival analyses. RESULTS: = 0.008), respectively. CONCLUSION: End-stage FDCM patients are more likely to be transplanted, more likely to have early rejection, and have similar or higher survival than patients with other cardiomyopathies.