Photo Credit: Stanislav Tarasov

Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy (CCM) demonstrated a trend toward increased rates of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) following liver transplant, according to results published in Heart, Lung and Circulation. The findings could be useful as a non-invasive method for assisting in pre-operative risk stratification among liver transplant patients, for whom cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of death post-transplant. The study, conducted by Anoop Koshy, PhD, and colleagues, retrospectively evaluated pre-operative transthoracic echocardiograms (TTE) performed on patients undergoing liver transplant workup between 2012 and 2017. Primary endpoints were 30-day post-operative MACE, and secondary endpoints were defined as long-term all-cause mortality. A total of 170 patients underwent pre-operative TTE. Of those, 129 proceeded to surgery, with 47 meeting revised criteria for CCM. Researchers reported 27 MACE and 10 long-term deaths in their study period. MACE occurred in 14 patients with CCM and 13 patients with non-CCM. Researchers found no association between CCM and long-term all-cause death.