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A heart transplant is essentially an open-heart surgerical procedure where a severely diseased or damaged heart is replaced with a healthy heart from a recently expired person. Heart transplant can be a good option for heart failure that has occurred due to conditions such as coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, congenital heart disease or valve disease.
Description Of heart transplant
It is difficult to find a donor heart. The heart for transplant is donated by someone who has been declared brain-dead but remains on life support. The donor heart must be matched much closely to the patient’s tissue type to reduce the chance that his/her body will reject the new heart.
It is very much unfortunate that the number of people waiting for a heart transplant is much higher than the number of available organs. A patient generally is considered fit for a heart transplant when diagnosed as having end-stage heart disease, all other medical interventions have already failed and the patient is stable enough to sustain a major surgery.
The patient is administered general anesthesia. Then a cut is made through the breast bone.
- The blood is circulated with a heart-lung bypass machine to keep the blood oxygen-rich during the surgery.
- The patient's diseased heart is removed and the donor heart is stitched in place. The heart-lung machine is disconnected. Blood flows through the transplanted heart.
- Tubes may be inserted to drain air, fluid, and blood out of the chest for several days, to allow the lungs to fully re-expand.
Sometimes Heart transplants are performed along with the lung transplants for some specific individuals having end-stage lung disease due to conditions including:
- Primary pulmonary hypertension. High blood pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs. This can be considered as a mere contraindication for a heart transplant, and as well as it makes a lung transplant necessary.
- Eisenmenger syndrome. Any type of congenital heart disease which includes severe pulmonary hypertension. This specific condition occurs for nearly half of total heart-lung transplants done in a specific time frame.
- Cystic fibrosis. A genetic disease that causes thick mucus to build up in the lungs.
- Bronchiectasis. Destruction and widening of the lungs' large airways.
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Before the heart transplant procedure
Once the doctor refers the patient to a clinic, the patient has to be evaluated by the transplant team thoroughly. They will want to make sure that the patient is good enough to withstand the transplant. He/she will have several visits over the course of several weeks or even months. Patient will need to have blood drawn and x-rays taken.
The following may also be done:
- Blood or skin tests to check for a number of infections
- Tests to evaluate your heart, such as EKG, echocardiogram, cardiac catheterization
- Tests to look for cancer
- Tissue and blood typing, to help make sure your body will not reject the donated heart
If the transplant team believes that the candidate is a good candidate, he/she will be put on a national waiting list for a heart:
- Place on the list is based on several factors. Key factors include the type and severity of your heart disease, and the likelihood that a transplant will be successful.
- The amount of time one spends on a waiting list is usually NOT a factor for how soon one gets a heart, except in the case of children.
Most of the patients but not all of them awaiting heart transplants are very ill and need to be in the hospital.
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After the heart transplant procedure
The patient needs continuous monitoring after the surgery. The surgeon as well as the cardiologist and the other hospital staffs will watch closely for any signs of heart rejection or infection during this critical time. There are some of the medicines which suppress the natural immune system of our body will be administered to prevent the body's tendency to reject the new heart.
Risks Of Heart Transplant
Risks for any anesthesia are:
- Reactions to medications
- Problems breathing
Risks for any surgery are:
- Bleeding
- Infection
Risks of transplant include:
- Blood clots (deep venous thrombosis)
- Damage to the kidneys, liver, or other body organs from anti-rejection (immune-suppression) medications
- Heart attack or stroke
- Heart rhythm problems
- Increased risk for infections due to anti-rejection (immune suppression) medications
- Wound infections
For information about cost of cardiac surgery in India or any medical queries email us at contact@india4health.com or call the 24x7 customer care helpline- +1-920-889-5302 or +91-9891497299 or +91-11-30621718 (India)
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