Validation of predicted heart mass equations by measurement of donor heart mass at time of heart transplantation

Predicted heart mass (PHM) equations may be used in donor-recipient size matching in heart transplantation. We compared PHM and actual heart mass in 25 consecutive DBD heart transplants. There was a moderate positive correlation between actual heart mass and PHM. There was a similar moderate correlation between actual heart mass and donor weight or donor body surface area but not donor height. PHM was lower than actual heart mass for all donor hearts. Bland-Altman analysis showed a systematic bias between PHM and actual heart mass, with a mean difference of 190.9 +/- 66.4 g. The utility of PHM equations is likely to be part of a multi-parametric assessment of the relative differences between donor and recipient, so the absolute difference is likely to be unimportant.