Consider sex in heart transplant decisions, say researchers

摘要

More consideration should be given to the patient's sex when deciding whether to recommend heart transplantation in patients with heart failure, researchers have suggested after finding new evidence that cut-off levels for VO_2 stress testing should be different for men than for women. Peak VO_2 is considered to be a strong predictor of survival, and useful in identifying candidates for heart transplantation. A peak VO_2 of 14.0 ml/kg/min is usually used as the cutoff point below which patients are considered suitable for a transplant. But a study of 594 ambulatory heart failure patients found that women had a significantly lower peak VO_2 than men (14.0 ml/kg/min versus 16.6 ml/kg/min respectively), despite being younger and having a higher left ventricular ejection fraction, and also had a significantly higher 1-year transplant-free survival (94% versus 81% respectively).