Heart Transplant
Diseased hearts can be replaced during a heart transplant, a measure taken to help save a persons life after other treatments have failed.
If you have end-stage heart failure, which has severely weakened or damaged your heart, you most likely will need a heart transplant. However, because so few hearts are available, you must be sick enough to need a new heart but healthy enough to survive the surgery.
In the U.S., only about 2,000 hearts are available each year, while there are 3,000 people waiting for a new heart. While you wait for a new heart, your doctor may insert a ventricular assist device (VAD) to help your heart continue to function.
Once you have the transplant, you will need to take medications to suppress your immune system, so it doesnt attack your new heart. A team of doctors will monitor if your body accepts the new heart. The team will also look out for any infections that you may develop because of a suppressed immune system.
Recently Answered
- Q What are anti-rejection medications for a heart transplant?
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A heart transplant is a surgical procedure performed to remove the diseased heart from a patient and replace it with a healthy one from an organ donor. To allow the transplanted heart to survive in your body, you will be given medications for the... Full Answer
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- Q What can I expect after my heart transplant surgery?
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After surgery, you will regain consciousness in the open heart recovery intensive care unit (ICU). Among all the people moving around you, there will be one nurse who is assigned to caring just for you. All the cardiac ICU nurses are specially trained to... Full Answer
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- Q Will my immune system reject my new heart?
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Your immune system recognizes and attacks anything different from the substances normally present in the body, even those only slightly different like your transplanted heart. Rejection is the term used when your body's immune system is attacking your... Full Answer
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- Q What stops my immune system from rejecting my new heart?
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After your heart transplant, you will be taking immunosuppressant, or anti-rejection, medications for the rest of your life to prevent your immune system from targeting your new heart as a "foreigner," and damaging it. Sometimes, the immune cells attack... Full Answer
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- Q Why do I need a dental checkup before my heart transplant?
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Your mouth is a potential source of infection because so many bacteria and fungi are normally present there. This is why we insist that you have a dental evaluation before your heart transplant surgery. After transplant, it is important that you... Full Answer
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- Q What medications will I need after my heart transplant?
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You know that after your heart transplant, you will be taking many different medications, each prescribed to you for a specific therapeutic reason. They fall into four categories: Immunosuppressants: Drugs and agents that shut down your body's natural... Full Answer
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- Q How often will I have to go for follow-up visits after my heart transplant?
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The purpose of clinic visits after a heart transplant is to monitor for rejection and closely screen for the side effects of the various medications. Since the incidence of rejection is the highest over the first few months, frequent clinic visits and... Full Answer
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- Q What does the biopsy say about my heart transplant?
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The biopsy "grade" reflects a standardized scoring system based on how many rejection cells are seen in the biopsy specimen. The biopsy grade and your overall heart function will dictate the type of treatment you receive after your heart transplant. Full Answer
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- Q When was the first heart transplant done?
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In 1967, a human heart from one person was transplanted into the body of another by a South African surgeon named Dr. Christiaan Barnard in Cape Town, South Africa. In early December, Dr. Barnard's surgical team removed the heart of a 25-year-old woman... Full Answer
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- Q What can I expect when I get evaluated for a heart transplant?
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When you are referred to NYPH/Columbia for evaluation as a candidate for heart transplantation, you may be seen as an outpatient or admitted to the hospital. The purpose of the evaluation is to determine if transplantation is the right choice for you.... Full Answer
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