The chance of receiving a new heart or liver within a year after being placed on a waiting list varies widely depending on the transplant center, according to a first-of-its-kind report by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Released on October 14, the report was based on data from patients waiting for hearts or livers from April 1994 to the end of 1997 at about 100 transplant centers. It considers three primary questions based on a patient's first year on a waiting list: how many patients received a transplant within a year of waiting; how many patients died while waiting; and how many patients survived for a year regardless of whether they received a transplant.
While there was wide variation in the rates of transplantation within the first year of waiting, the variation in the mortality rates was much narrower. "This indicates that, unlike the probability of death, which is primarily but not solely determined by the clinical condition of the patient, many other considerations determine the probability of being transplanted," HHS reported.
Some of the findings include the following:
The percentage of patients receiving a liver during the first year ranged from 3% at Beth Isreal Hospital in Massachusetts to 89% at the University of Kansas Medical Center. The percentage receiving a heart ranged from 17% at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., to 90% at All Children's Hospital in Florida.
The percentage of liver patients who died while on the waiting list ranged from none at four transplant centers to 52% at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis. The percentage of heart patients ranged from 4% at Columbia Hospital at Medical City, Dallas, to 31% at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis.
The percentage of liver patients remaining alive for a year regardless of whether they received a transplant ranged from 51% at Tulane University Medical Center in Louisiana to 100% at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. The percentage for heart patients ranged from 57% at Tulane to 94% at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington.
For Your Information:
The report, summary tables, and charts are available through links at the homepage of Representative Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), who asked HHS to compile the report: www.house.gov/waxman/.
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