A heart transplantation is required in patients with a diseased heart. It is often recommended to patients whose heart function does not improve even after surgeries and continuous and prolonged use of medications. During the heart transplant procedure, the diseased heart is replaced with a fully functional heart. The heart used for replacement is retrieved from a patient who is brain-dead but is still on a life support system.

Because of the unavailability of a sufficient number of brain-dead donors, heart transplant surgery is still a rare procedure, even though it is a life-saving procedure. Moreover, there are just a handful of families who agree to donate the heart of their close ones because of aesthetic reasons. Even though heart transplant procedure is a major one, the chances of survival after the surgery is generally good. However, heart transplant survival rate largely depends on how well the patient has been taken care of after the surgery. Heart transplant surgery is mostly performed in patients with heart failure, which may happen because of any of the following conditions:

• Cardiomyopathy or weakening of the heart muscles
• Previously failed heart transplant procedure
• Coronary artery disease
• Cardiac valve disease
• Congenital heart defect
• Amyloidosis
• Abnormal heart rhythm

Heart transplantation surgery is often coupled with the transplant of some other organ in patients with specific conditions. These organs may include kidney, liver, or lung, depending on the condition of the patient and the ailment he or she is suffering from. Not every heart patients, however, is eligible to undergo the heart transplant surgery. Patients with a previous history of cancer, a major illness that would anyway shorten their lifespan, active infection, advanced age, or unhealthy lifestyle habits are not recommended to undergo heart transplant surgery.