Best Hospitals for Heart Transplant

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.

The following steps are typically performed during the heart transplant surgery:

• You will receive general anaesthesia so that you remain asleep during the surgery. Anesthesia ensures that you do not feel any pain or discomfort during the procedure.
• As the heart transplant procedure is performed on a non-beating heart, you will be connected to a heart-lung bypass machine. This machine takes over the functioning of the normal blood circulation temporarily.
• The surgeons will make an incision in your chest and separate the chest bone to open the rib cage. This will expose your heart.
• The diseased heart is removed and replaced with the donor’s heart. All of the major blood vessels are connected to the donor’s heart.
• The heart starts beating as soon as you are removed from the artificial heart-lung bypass machine.
• The surgeons may deliver a shock to the donor’s heart to make it beat if required.
• The chest is sewn back once the beating of the donor’s heart is restored.

You may expect to receive a couple of medications after the surgery to ease the pain. You may also be kept on a ventilator for a few hours or days to ease beating. Additionally, a chest tube may be put to drain fluids from the chest. You may also expect to receive fluids through IV following the surgery.

Recovery after heart transplantation surgery is slow. You will be required to visit the surgeon for frequent follow-ups. They will advise you to undergo a series of tests every time you visit, including echocardiograms, electrocardiograms, and blood tests. You will also be required to undergo heart biopsies to check for signs of organ rejection. During a biopsy, a pathologist will look into a tiny heart tissue under a microscope. Additionally, you will be required to make several long-term adjustments into your schedule after you’ve had a heart transplant. You will be required to take immunosuppressants and make adjustments for medications. You will require an intensive emotional support during cardiac rehabilitation. Therefore, make sure to have your near and dead ones around you during the recovery phase.

You will also be advised to make several adjustments to your lifestyle to speed up recovery. This includes guidelines pertaining to exercising, healthy diet, sunscreen use, and tobacco consumption.