Heart Transplant

Heart Transplant

A heart transplant is a surgery in which diseased heart is removed and it is replaced with a healthy heart from a deceased donor in order to improve patient’s quality of life and help in increasing the lifespan of the patient. Most of the heart transplants will be done on the patients with end-stage heart failure, it is a condition in which the patient’s heart will be severely weakened or damaged, and also on the patient’s who have failed other options of treatments. End-stage heart failure can be caused by conditions such as viral infections, coronary heart disease, or hereditary conditions.

In rare instances, both the heart transplant and lung transplant may be performed at the same time in patients who will be having severe heart and lung disease.

Heart transplant surgeries are performed in a hospital. The patient will be given general anesthesia and will not be awake during the surgery. The patient will be receiving the medicine through an IV (intravenous) line in the arm.

A breathing tube will be connected to a ventilator which will help the patient in breathing. A surgeon will open the patient’s chest, connecting heart’s arteries and veins to a heart-lung bypass machine, and then will remove the diseased heart. The body’s veins and arteries will be taken off the bypass machines and will be reconnected to the healthy heart of the donor.

The heart transplant will be completed when the surgeon will close the patient’s chest.