the patient’s heart by transecting the aorta, the main pulmonary artery and the superior and inferior vena cavae, and dividing the left atrium, leaving the back wall of the left atrium with the pulmonary vein openings in place.
The surgeon connects the donor heart by sewing together the recipient and donor vena cavae, aorta, pulmonary artery and left atrium. In patients with congenital heart disease, the surgeon may simultaneously transplant the lungs and the heart.
While it’s unclear who Kurtis’ donor is, the donor heart is matched to the recipient by blood type and body size.
As the heart transplant recipient, you must take medications to prevent his or her immune system from rejecting the new heart.
These drugs are called immunosuppressive medication. Your medical team will balance the amount of immunosuppressive medication you need to prevent rejection of your new heart with the risk of side effects, which include infection or cancer.
A transplant heart can help you lead a more active, fulfilling life, but there may be times when additional surgery is required.
For instance, if the rhythm of your transplant heart becomes slow, you may need to have a pacemaker.
Rarely, the tricuspid valve can become damaged by the endomyocardial biopsy procedure; if that happens it will need to be repaired or replaced.
Patients with congenital heart disease who have had a coarctation repair or problems with narrow or small pulmonary arteries may need surgery or interventional catheterization after the transplant to increase the size of these areas.
Sometimes, a transplanted heart may fail because of rejection, damage to the heart cells or coronary arteries of the heart, which leads to heart failure.
If this happens, doctors can sometimes transplant another heart.