Infant heart transplantation at Stanford: growth and neurodevelopmental outcome.

Objective. To evaluate the growth and neurodevelopmental outcome of 18 surviving Stanford patients who received heart transplantations before their second birthday. Methods. We compared the growth and neurodevelopmental outcome of these 18 patients with a second group of age-matched comparison patients who underwent other heart surgery requiring cardiopulmonary bypass. Results. Difficulties with growth and development were more common in the transplant group as were neurologic abnormalities. Speech and language delays as well as hearing problems were also more common in the transplant group. Conclusion. Multicenter prospective longitudinal neurodevelopmental outcome studies of infant heart transplant patients should be conducted to provide a more efficient basis for evaluating management protocols and assessment of long-term outcomes and of the need for early intervention services.