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Last updated: 11/24/2009
Heart transplantation is an appropriate treatment for many patients with end-stage heart failure. The outcomes of heart transplantation depend on the patient's age, health, and other factors. According to a year 2000 data from the Registry of the International...
Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT), 81% of transplant recipients survive one year. During the first year, infection and acute rejection are the leading causes of death. A constant 4% decrease occurs yearly after the first year as the incidence of coronary allograft vascular disease increases.
Pediatric patients less than one year of age are least likely to reject the donor heart, but 30% of older pediatric patients succumb to transplant rejection.
After transplant, most patients regain normal heart function, meaning the heart pumps a normal amount of blood. A transplanted heart usually beats slightly faster than normal because the heart nerves are cut during surgery. The new heart also does not increase its rate as quickly during exercise. Even so, most patients feel much better and their capacity for exercise is dramatically improved from before they received the new heart. About 90% of survivors at five years will have no symptoms of heart failure. Patients return to work and other daily activities. Many are able to participate in sports.
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This 3D animation explains how the heart muscle contracts to pump blood throughout the body. The action of cells at the microscopic level affects the function of the entire cardiovascular system, as the video explains.
For a heart transplantation, the area around the heart is exposed through a chest incision (A). The blood vessels leading to the heart are clamped, and the heart function is replaced by a heart-lung machine. The diseased heart is removed (B). The donor heart is placed in the chest, and the left atrium is attached (C). The right atrium is connected (D), and the aorta and pulmonary artery are finally attached (E). (Illustration by GGS Inc.)
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Heart transplantation or cardiac transplantation, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease. The most common procedure is to take a working heart from a recently deceased organ donor (allograft) and implant it into the patient. The patient's own heart may either be removed (orthotopic procedure) or, less commonly, left in to support the donor heart (heterotopic procedure). It is also possible to take a heart from another species (xenograft), or implant a man-made artificial one, although the outcome of these two procedures has been less successful in comparison to the far more commonly performed Bold textallografts.
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How many open-heart surgeries are performed each year? In 2005 in the United States, these procedures were performed: Valve replacements 106,000 Bypass (cardiac revascularization) 469,000 Heart transplants (performed in 2006) 2,192 Total open-heart procedures 699,000.
From: American Heart Association
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