What is Organ Heart Transplantation
Organ Heart Transplantation is surgery to remove the diseased heart from a person and replace it with a healthy one from an organ donor. The patient’s own heart is either removed and replaced with the donor heart or, less commonly, the recipient’s diseased heart is left in place to support the donor heart.
Heart Disease and Heart Transplant
A heart transplant is the replacement of a person’s diseased heart with a donor’s healthy heart. The donor is a person who has died and whose family has agreed to donate their loved one’s organs.
Causes of Heart Failure include:
Heart attack
Viral infection of the heart muscle
Coronary artery disease
Heart valve disease
Irregular heartbeats
Alcoholism or drug abuse
Dangerous recurring abnormal heart rhythms not controlled by other treatments
Failure of a previous heart transplant
Eligibility for a Heart Transplant
Are an advanced age that would interfere with the ability to recover from transplant surgery
Have another medical condition that could shorten your life, regardless of receiving a donor heart, such as a serious kidney, liver or lung disease
Have an active infection
Are unwilling or unable to make lifestyle changes necessary to keep your donor heart healthy, such as not drinking alcohol or not smoking
Possible Complications of Organ Heart Transplantation
The immune system recognising the transplanted heart as foreign and attacking it
The donated heart fails to work properly
Narrowing of the arteries supplying the heart
Side effects from the immunosuppressant medication, such as an increased vulnerability to infections, weight gain and kidney problems
However, there are some things to keep in mind
Medications
As mentioned, after a heart transplant, patients must take several drugs. These medications, which must be taken for life, can cause significant side effects, including high blood pressure, fluid retention, excessive hair growth, bone thinning, and kidney damage.
Exercise
Heart transplant recipients are encouraged to exercise to improve the function of the heart and to avoid weight gain. Because the nerves leading to the heart are cut during the operation, the transplanted heart beats faster than the normal heart.
Diet
After transplant, the patient may need to follow a special diet, which may involve many of the same dietary changes made prior to surgery. A diet with healthy fats and low sodium will decrease the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and fluid retention.
