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Heart transplant

Cardiac transplant; Transplant - heart; Transplantation - heart

 

A heart transplant is surgery to remove a damaged or diseased heart and replace it with a healthy donor heart.

Description

 

Finding a donor heart can be difficult. The heart must be donated by someone who is brain-dead but is still on life support. The donor heart must be matched as closely as possible to your tissue type to reduce the chance that your body will reject it.

You are put into a deep sleep with general anesthesia , and a cut is made through the breastbone.

  • Your blood flows through a heart-lung bypass machine while the surgeon works on your heart. This machine does the work of your heart and lungs while they are stopped, and supplies your body with blood and oxygen.
  • Your diseased heart is removed and the donor heart is stitched in place. The heart-lung machine is then disconnected. Blood flows through the transplanted heart, which takes over supplying your body with blood and oxygen.
  • Tubes are inserted to drain air, fluid, and blood out of the chest for several days, and to allow the lungs to fully re-expand.

 

Why the Procedure Is Performed

 

A heart transplant may be done to treat:

  • Severe heart damage after a heart attack
  • Severe heart failure , when medicines, other treatments, and surgery no longer help
  • Severe heart defects that were present at birth and can't be fixed with surgery
  • Life-threatening abnormal heartbeats or rhythms that do not respond to other treatments

Heart transplant surgery may not be used in people who:

  • Are malnourished
  • Are older than age 65 to 70
  • Have had a severe stroke or dementia
  • Have had cancer less than 2 years ago
  • Have HIV infection
  • Have infections, such as hepatitis , that are active
  • Have insulin-dependent diabetes and other organs, such as the kidneys, that aren't working correctly
  • Have kidney, lung, nerve, or liver disease
  • Have no family support and do not follow their treatment
  • Have other diseases that affect the blood vessels of the neck and leg
  • Have pulmonary hypertension (thickening of blood vessels in the lung)
  • Smoke or abuse alcohol or drugs, or have other lifestyle habits that may damage the new heart
  • Are not reliable enough to take their medicines, or if the person is not able to keep up with the many hospital and medical office visits and tests

 

Risks

 

Risks from any anesthesia are:

  • Reactions to medicines
  • Problems breathing

Risks from any surgery are:

  • Bleeding
  • Infection

Risks of transplant include:

  • Blood clots ( deep venous thrombosis )
  • Damage to the kidneys, liver, or other organs from anti-rejection medicines
  • Development of cancer from the drugs used to prevent rejection
  • Heart attack or stroke
  • Heart rhythm problems
  • High cholesterol levels, diabetes, and bone thinning from the use of rejection medicines
  • Increased risk for infections due to anti-rejection medicines
  • Lung and kidney failure
  • Rejection of the heart
  • Severe coronary artery disease
  • Wound infections

 

Before the Procedure

 

Once you are referred to a transplant center, you will be evaluated by the transplant team. They will want to make sure that you are a good candidate for a transplant. You will visit many times over several weeks or even months. You will need to have blood drawn and x-rays taken. The following may also be done:

  • Blood or skin tests to check for infections
  • Tests of your kidney and liver
  • Tests to evaluate your heart, such as EKG , echocardiogram , and cardiac catheterization
  • Tests to look for cancer
  • Tissue and blood typing , to help make sure your body will not reject the donated heart
  • Ultrasound of your neck and legs

You will want to look at one or more transplant centers to see which would be best for you:

  • Ask them how many transplants they perform every year and what their survival rates are. Compare these numbers with the numbers from other centers.
  • Ask what support groups they have available and how much help they offer with travel and housing.
  • Ask about the costs of medicines you will need to take afterwards.

If the transplant team believes you are a good candidate, you will be put on a regional waiting list for a heart:

  • Your place on the list is based on several factors. Key factors include the type and severity of your heart disease, and how sick you are at the time you are listed.
  • The amount of time you spend on a waiting list is usually NOT a factor for how soon you get a heart, except in the case of children.

Most, but not all, people who are waiting for a heart transplant are very ill and need to be in the hospital. Many will need some sort of device to help their heart pump enough blood to the body. Most often, this is a ventricular assist device (VAD).

 

After the Procedure

 

You should expect to stay in the hospital for 7 to 21 days after a heart transplant. The first 24 to 48 hours will likely be in the intensive care unit (ICU). During the first few days after a transplant, you will need close follow-up to make sure that you do not get an infection and your heart is working well.

The recovery period is about 3 months and often, your transplant team will ask you to stay fairly close to the hospital during that time period. You will need to have regular check-ups with blood tests, x-rays, and echocardiograms for many years.

Fighting rejection is an ongoing process. The body's immune system considers the transplanted organ a foreign body and fights it. For this reason, organ transplant patients must take drugs that suppress the body's immune response . To prevent rejection, it is very important to take these medicines and carefully follow your self-care instructions.

Biopsies of the heart muscle are often done every month during the first 6 to 12 months after transplant, and then less often after that. This helps determine if your body is rejecting the new heart, even before you have symptoms.

You must take drugs that prevent transplant rejection for the rest of your life. You will need to understand how to take these medicines, and know their side effects.

You can go back to your normal activities 3 months after the transplant as soon as you feel well enough, and after talking with your health care provider. However, avoid vigorous physical activity.

To make sure that you do not develop coronary disease after a transplant, you may have cardiac catheterization every year.

 

Outlook (Prognosis)

 

Heart transplant prolongs the life of people who would otherwise die. About 80% of heart transplant patients are alive 2 years after the operation. At 5 years, 70% of patients will still be alive after a heart transplant.

The main problem, as with other transplants, is rejection. If rejection can be controlled, survival increases to over 10 years.

 

 

References

Acker MA, Jessup M. Surgical management of heart failure In: Mann DL, Zipes DP, Libby P, et al, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine . 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2014:chap 28.

Bernstein D. Pediatric heart and heart-lung transplantation. In: Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics . 19th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2011:chap 437.

Costanzo MR, Dipchand A, Starling R, et al. The International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation guidelines for the care of heart transplant recipients. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2010;29(8):914-956. PMID: 20643330 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20643330 .

Yancy CW, Jessup M, Bozkurt B, et al. 2013 ACCF/AHA guideline for the management of heart failure: a report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. Circulation. 2013;128(16):e240-e327. PMID: 23741058 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23741058 .

 
  • Heart, section through the middle - illustration

    The interior of the heart is composed of valves, chambers, and associated vessels.

    Heart, section through the middle

    illustration

  • Heart, front view - illustration

    The external structures of the heart include the ventricles, atria, arteries and veins. Arteries carry blood away from the heart while veins carry blood into the heart. The vessels colored blue indicate the transport of blood with relatively low content of oxygen and high content of carbon dioxide. The vessels colored red indicate the transport of blood with relatively high content of oxygen and low content of carbon dioxide.

    Heart, front view

    illustration

  • Normal anatomy of the heart - illustration

    The heart is made up of the two atria which receive blood and two ventricles which are the actual pumps of the heart. The left ventricle pumps blood into the aorta sending oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.

    Normal anatomy of the heart

    illustration

  • Heart transplant - series

    Presentation

  •  
    • Heart, section through the middle - illustration

      The interior of the heart is composed of valves, chambers, and associated vessels.

      Heart, section through the middle

      illustration

    • Heart, front view - illustration

      The external structures of the heart include the ventricles, atria, arteries and veins. Arteries carry blood away from the heart while veins carry blood into the heart. The vessels colored blue indicate the transport of blood with relatively low content of oxygen and high content of carbon dioxide. The vessels colored red indicate the transport of blood with relatively high content of oxygen and low content of carbon dioxide.

      Heart, front view

      illustration

    • Normal anatomy of the heart - illustration

      The heart is made up of the two atria which receive blood and two ventricles which are the actual pumps of the heart. The left ventricle pumps blood into the aorta sending oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.

      Normal anatomy of the heart

      illustration

    • Heart transplant - series

      Presentation

    •  

    A Closer Look

     

      Talking to your MD

       

        Self Care

         

        Tests for Heart transplant

         

           

          Review Date: 4/13/2015

          Reviewed By: Dale Mueller, MD, cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon, HeartCare Midwest; Chairman Department of Cardiovascular Medicine and Surgery, OSF St. Francis Medical Center; and Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery, University of Illinois, Peoria, IL. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Isla Ogilvie, PhD, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

          The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. © 1997- A.D.A.M., Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.

           
           
           

           

           

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