Selection of Cardiac Transplant Recipients and Their Subsequent Psychosocial Adjustment

Abstract

The selection of recipients for organ transplantation and the relationship of selection to the patient’s psychosocial adjustment after transplantation have received much attention in the past several years. No set of definitive criteria for the selection of suitable candidates for transplantation has yet been formulated. Although at many centers the criteria for selection are predominantly medical, it seems reasonable that other criteria of a psychosocial nature should enter into these selection procedures since candidates are being chosen for complicated, expensive, and somewhat experimental procedures involving long-term, intensive medical follow-up.