Bariatric Surgery Provides a “Bridge to Transplant” for Morbidly Obese Patients with Advanced Heart Failure and May Obviate the Need for Transplantation

In patients with advanced heart failure, morbid obesity is a relative contraindication to heart transplantation due to higher morbidity and mortality in these patients.

We performed a retrospective analysis of consecutive morbidly obese patients with advanced heart failure who underwent bariatric surgery for durable weight loss in order to meet eligibility criteria for cardiac transplantation.

Seven patients (4 M/3 F, age range 31–56 years) with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤25 % underwent laparoscopic bariatric surgery. Median preoperative body mass index (BMI) was 42.8 kg/m² (range 37.5–50.8). There were no major perioperative complications in six of seven patients. Median length of hospital stay was 5 days. There was no mortality recorded during complete patient follow-up. At a median follow-up of 406 days, median BMI reduction was 12.9 kg/m² (p = 0.017). Postoperative LVEF improved to a median of 30 % (interquartile range (IQR) 25–53 %; p = 0.039). Two patients underwent successful cardiac transplantation. Two patients reported symptomatic improvement with little change in LV function and now successfully meet listing criteria. Three patients showed marked improvement of their LVEF and functional status, thus removing the requirement for transplantation.

Bariatric surgery can achieve successful weight loss in morbidly obese patients with advanced cardiac failure, enabling successful heart transplantation. In some patients, cardiac transplantation can be avoided through surgical weight loss.