Heart Transplant – I

The removal of a diseased heart and replacing it with a healthy heart of a donor who has died is termed as Heart Transplant. Heart Transplant is the last resort and is advised when the doctors feel that the diseased heart has lost its capacity to function efficiently and is causing a potential risk to the life of the person.
First Heart transplant was done in the year 1967 in South Africa and the heart transplant was carried out into a man who was 53 years old and the donor was the heart was 25 years old.
REASONS OF A HEART TRANSPLANT
Severe cases of heart failure are considered for heart transplant and only after the cardiologist has tried all the conventional treatments which were appropriate for the treatment of heart failure. Further heart transplant also is not suitable in case of every person who is suffering from severe heart failure.
The function of the heart is to pump the blood to all parts of the body so that all the tissues of the body get the required nutrients and oxygen which is required by them for their proper functioning and when the heart is not able to perform this function efficiently it is known as heart failure.
There are various conditions which cause heart failure and include coronary heart disease, severe high blood pressure, cardiomyopathy, and previous heart attacks. A very fast heart rate or very slow heart rate or a very irregular heart rate can also cause conditions leading to heart failure.
PROCESS OF ORGAN DONATION
Lives of more than 300 persons were saved or improved significantly between the period starting from April 2006 to March 2007 from Organ transplant. At present the organ donor register contains approximately 15 million names.
Organ donors are normally persons in the intensive care unit and are on ventilator due to serious injury of the head or massive bleeding in the lining of the brain where medicines cannot help them. In these cases, as soon as the brain stem testing establishes death, the co-ordinator of the donor transplant is contacted. Also the verifications are done in the organ donor register. The co-ordinator is also a specialist who deals with the patients and their family members
Once the hospital staff has established death, the information is passed on to the family members and the intensive care consultant along with the donor transplant co-coordinator, speak with the next-of- kin regarding the patient’s opinion on the organ donation and issues related to the end of life. In the case when the patient has registered with the hospital and expressed his desire for donating the organs, it is seldom that the family will ever object to this. When the immediate family is comfortable and satisfied with the very decision of proceeding with the donation process and has completely understood the very next step, the patient will be thoroughly assessed by the coordinator. This would involve asking detailed questions concerning the patient’s social and medical history. As a matter of fact the operations after the process of donation are quite safe and involve minimum risks to the recipients.
It is very important to check thoroughly in the database for the most appropriate recipients. The checks in case of kidneys have to be quite thorough as the kidneys are more susceptible to rejections mainly due to the way the natural defense system for the body works. The rest of the other organs are mainly matched by the size and the blood group. The coordinator offers complete care and support to the deceased’s immediate family. The family receives atleast some information related to the usage of the organs, though the identity is never revealed