None — BACKGROUND: According to the American Heart Association (AHA), a person needs a heart transplant when the heart can no longer work and a person is faced with death. People with long-term heart failure or other heart injuries or those who have suffered coronary artery disease and multiple heart attacks are candidates for heart transplants.
In 2007, there were a total of 2,210 heart transplants, and there were 2,163 heart transplants performed in 2008. According to the AHA, in the United States alone, 72.4 percent of heart transplant recipients are male, 65.5 percent are white, and about 54.2 percent are 50 years of age or older. Statistics show the one-year survival rate as of June 5, 2009 was 88 percent for males and 77 percent for females. When looking at three-year survival rates, males had about a 79 percent survival rate while females had a 77 percent survival rate. When examining survival rates for five years after a heart transplant, men still had a higher survival rate than females, coming in with a 73 percent chance of survival. Females only had about a 67 percent chance of survival.
PROCEDURE AND POST-OP: During a heart transplant, doctors take out the diseased heart and replace it with a donor heart. During the procedure, a pump circulates blood throughout the body. Additionally, the surgeon connects the new heart to all the necessary blood vessels and uses a temporary wire to control the heart beats.
Like most other heart surgeries, heart transplant patients will need a cardiac rehabilitation program. Typically, the patient will remain in the hospital for one to two weeks after surgery for proper monitoring and checking of the new heart. Some risks include rejection of the donor heart, clogging of the arteries, bone loss, infection, and ulcers.
LVADs: Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs), were once used to help keep a patient alive only long enough to receive a donor heart. Now, doctors are using LVADs instead of donor hearts. The AHA describes LVADs to be battery-operated, mechanical pumps that are surgically implanted. Furthermore, they maintain the heart pumping that the heart cannot do on its own. LVADs work through a tube that pulls blood located in the left ventricle into a pump. Next, the pump sends blood to the aorta. Since LVADs are portable, they are used for weeks or even months on end. LVADs allow patients to continue on with daily activities.
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