Post-cardiac transplant recipient: Implications for anaesthesia

The annual heart transplant rate is gradually increasing worldwide. A proportion of this patient population present for an elective or emergency surgery which may or may not be related to the transplanted heart. A MEDLINE search for heart transplant, anaesthesia, adult, paediatric and surgery was conducted to review anaesthetic management for heart transplant recipients. Anaesthesia and perioperative management are different in these cases. A thorough understanding of the physiology of denervated heart, post-transplant morbidities and pharmacology of immunosuppressants is essential for best perioperative management and improved post-operative outcome.