After being placed on the waiting list, pediatric patients remained alive for about 63 days on average. (image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — One out of four pediatric patients waiting for heart transplants die before an organ becomes available for them, a study showed Wednesday.
Researchers from the Samsung Medical Center analyzed the diagnostic data of 254 pediatric patients under 18 years of age who were on the waiting list for heart transplants at three tertiary general hospitals during the period from January 2000 to January 2020.
The study found that 27 out of the 254 patients remained on the waiting list until the study was completed.
The number of pediatric patients who died while waiting for heart transplants stood at 66, or 26 percent of the total. This figure is far higher than 17 percent in the U.S.
The most common underlying disease of the pediatric patients who died while waiting for a heart transplant was cardiomyopathy (66.7 percent), a medical term for diseases of the heart muscle.
After being placed on the waiting list, patients remained alive for about 63 days on average.
The research team concluded that the factors affecting the survival of the patients included their age, underlying disease and the application of an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
