2007 AWARDED GRANT

Anne I. Dipchand, MD

Outcome of pediatric patients with cardiomyopathy: a multi-centre review of pediatric patients listed for transplant in the Pediatric Heart Transplant Study
Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
Anne I. Dipchand, MD – $42,642

Although the treatment of heart failure due to all types of cardiomyopathy in children continues to improve, a certain number of children continue to go on to need a heart transplant. Currently, there is limited information on how to predict when these children should be listed for a heart transplant and what things might make them more or less likely to survive a heart transplant. Listing for a heart transplant too early or too late is detrimental for the patients involved. Because there is very little clinical information available, there is great variability on the criteria that physicians and hospitals use to make decisions about the need for and the timing of listing for a heart transplant. This research study will utilize clinical data from the Pediatric Heart Transplant Study Group (PHTSG) collected from children with cardiomyopathy who were then listed for a heart transplant (over 1,100 patients). This project proposes to describe what happens to children with cardiomyopathy once they get listed for heart transplantation and will provide a more in depth analysis of heart transplantation as a treatment for children with cardiomyopathy. By analyzing the PHTSG information on patients with cardiomyopathy, we can determine what factors make them more likely to need a heart transplant and to survive, the optimal time of listing for a heart transplant, and how they do post transplant from a quality of life standpoint. It will also allow us to look for differences based on factors such as age, sex, type of cardiomyopathy, and treatments. The information learned from such a large group of patients will almost certainly be important for the clinical management of and future studies in children with cardiomyopathy.