WHO NEEDS A HEART TRANSPLANT? – Medicine is always evolving and developing new techniques to replace the bad organs with the good ones. Heart transplants cannot be performed on people with infection,
cancer, diabetes or drug addicts. People suffering from coronary heart diseases or birth defects or other problems associated with the heart which do not respond to any other drug or therapy need a heart transplant
WHO IS A GOOD DONOR? – Moreover, needing a healthy heart and being a suitable candidate are not enough. The potential donor heart must be compatible with the recipient’s immune system to decrease the chances of problems with rejection. Rejection means the body of the patient rejects the new heart even though it is healthy because the body fails to recognise the cells of the new heart. The donor must also undergo a lot of screening and tests in order to ensure that he has a healthy heart and body. For instance, all donors are screened for HIV and Hepatitis B and C.
WHO GETS THE DONATED HEART? – Finally, this precious resource, the donor organ, must be distributed fairly. The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is in charge of a system that is in place to assure equitable allocation of organs to individuals who will benefit the most from transplantation. However, there are not enough hearts for the patients. Every year, 4,500 to 5,000 people are put on the waiting list for a healthy heart.
HOW IS THE TRANSPLANT DONE? – The medical procedure consists of 3 surgeries-
1. Surgery to harvest the heart from the donor who has suffered from a trauma or irreversible brain injury.
2. Surgery for removing the recipient’s damaged heart.
3. Surgery for heart transplant.
During the operation, the patient is placed on a heart-lung machine. This machine allows the body to receive vital oxygen and nutrients from the blood while the heart is being operated on.
Surgeons then remove the patient’s heart and place the healthy heart. Then they connect the blood vessels, allowing blood to flow through the heart and lungs. As the heart warms up, it begins beating. Surgeons check all the connected blood vessels and heart chambers for leaks before removing the patient from the heart-lung machine. It is a complicated operation that lasts from 4 to 10 hours.
WHAT ARE THE RISKS INVOLVED? – The most common causes of death following a heart transplant are –
• Infection and Rejection.
• Kidney damage
• High Blood Pressure
• Osteoporosis (a severe thinning of the bones which can cause fractures)
• Lymphoma (a type of cancer that affects cells of the immune system)