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When Your Heart Needs To Be Replaced
If your heart becomes unable to effectively pump blood throughout your body, a heart transplant may be necessary. The procedure is usually only performed on patients who have crossed over to "end-stage" heart failure. At that point, there are no alternative paths to treatment. Medications do not help, nor do less extreme surgical procedures. If the person does not receive a replacement, he or she will die.
Below, we'll explore heart transplants in detail. Specifically, we'll discuss the eligibility requirements that a person must meet as well as what transpires before the operation. We'll also explain what patients can expect after the procedure has been performed.
Eligibility Requirements
People who have entered into end-stage failure have no other options for living a reasonably healthy life. They need a transplant. That said, eligibility for the operation is partly based upon ancillary conditions. For example, if a patient has kidney disease, that disorder might preclude him or her from being a viable candidate. Likewise, if a person has battled cancer in the past, he or she may be eliminated from the list of possible recipients.
Other factors, such as blood circulation, infections, and age are also considered. Not only must a person have no other options, but that person must also be able to receive the transplant. Someone who is unhealthy may be eliminated from the recipient list. If there is a high likelihood that their body will be unable to recover from the stress of the operation or unable to sustain the new muscle, they will be considered ineligible.
Patience Before The Procedure
Unfortunately, there are more people on the recipient list than there are available donor hearts. Because of the shortage, the donor muscles are distributed according to need and location. Nearly everyone on the list is in end-stage failure. But, some people are in more dire need than others. What's more, the muscle can only survive without blood circulation for a few hours. If a patient is located across the country from the donor, he or she may be deemed ineligible for the transplant because the organ cannot be transported quickly enough.
As a result of these limitations, a patient might need to wait several months before receiving the transplant.
After Surgery
The primary concern after the operation is that the recipient's body will reject the new organ. That is due to the immune system; it naturally attacks any foreign element that is introduced to the body. In order to control the immune system, the patient will need to take immunosuppressants. An additional concern is the possible onset of infections. They can be caused by the medications or within the incisions made during the operation.
Because there is such a high level of risk (rejection of the organ and infection), patients can expect to stay in the hospital for two or three weeks following surgery. Afterward, the surgical team will want to monitor the recipient's health for the next few months.
A heart transplant is one of the most demanding surgical procedures that a person can undergo. It is critical that a recipient follows his or her doctor's guidelines after the operation has been performed.
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