A heart transplant removes a damaged or diseased heart and replaces it with a healthy one. The healthy heart comes from a donor who has died. It is the last resort for people with heart failure when all other treatments have failed. Heart transplants are now the third most common organ transplant operation in the U.S.
Doctors may recommend a heart transplant for heart failure caused by
- Coronary artery disease
- Cardiomyopathy - disease of the heart muscle
- Heart valve disease
- In babies, multiple congenital heart defects that are too complex to repair
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Heart Transplant
(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/ht/ht_whatis.html
- Getting a Heart Transplant(National Kidney Foundation) - http://www.kidney.org/atoz/atozItem.cfm?id=158
- Getting a New Heart(American Society of Transplantation) - Links to PDF - http://www.a-s-t.org/files/pdf/patient_education/english/AST-EdBroNEWHEART-ENG.pdf
- Heart Transplant(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-transplant/MY00361/METHOD=print
- Heart Transplantation(UpToDate) - http://www.uptodate.com/patients/content/topic.do?topicKey=hrt_dis/7097
- Heart Transplant Failures More Likely in Poor, Minority Kids(04/07/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_82634.html
- Guidelines Suggested for Heart-Kidney Transplants(03/18/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_81851.html
- Health Maintenance(American Society of Transplantation) - http://www.healthytransplant.com/index.php?q=health_maintenance
- Lab Tests for Measuring Organ Function(American Society of Transplantation) - http://www.healthytransplant.com/index.php?q=health_maintenance/caring_for_your_new_organ/lab_tests_for_measuring_organ_function
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Medicines for Keeping Your New Heart or Lung Healthy(American Society of Transplantation) - http://www.a-s-t.org/files/pdf/patient_education/english/AST-EdBroHEARTMED-ENG.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://www.a-s-t.org/files/pdf/patient_education/spanish/ast-edbroheartmed-span.pdf
- During the Transplant: Heart(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.transplantliving.org/duringthetransplant/heart.aspx
- Infection and Malignancy(American Society of Transplantation) - http://www.healthytransplant.com/index.php?q=infection_and_malignancy
- Left Ventricular Assist Device(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4599
- Organ Donation(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4697
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Total Artificial Heart(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/tah/tah_what.html
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Heart Transplant Procedure(OR-Live) - One hour program - 9/19/2007 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/NLM-Flash/mom_1871/rnh.cfm?id=636
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Heart Anatomy(Texas Heart Institute) - http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Anatomy/anatomy2.cfm
Also available in Spanish http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Anatomy_Esp/anato_sp.cfm
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How the Heart Works(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/hhw/hhw_whatis.html
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Heart Transplantation(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/intervention=%22heart+transplantation%22
- Children of Lower Socioeconomic Status Fare Worse After Heart Transplant(American Heart Association) - http://americanheart.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=706
- Gender Matching Aids Long-Term Survival after Heart Transplants(American Heart Association) - http://americanheart.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=563
- Miniaturized Heart Pumps May Be Effective for Children Awaiting Transplant(American Heart Association) - http://americanheart.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=527
- Minority Children Waiting for Heart Transplants Have Higher Death Rates(American Heart Association) - http://americanheart.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=560
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Canadian Cardiovascular Society Consensus Conference update on cardiac transplantation 2008:... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19340342&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Valganciclovir dosing according to body surface area and renal function... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19260840&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Primary cutaneous CD30+ anaplastic large cell lymphoma in a heart... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19197546&tool=MedlinePlus
- Heart Transplantation -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=heart+transplantation[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+(review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- heart transplant - http://vsearch.nlm.nih.gov/vivisimo/cgi-bin/query-meta?v:project=medlineplus&binning-state=group%3d%3dMedical%20Encyclopedia&query=heart+transplant
- Transplant Glossary(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.transplantliving.org/Community/glossary.aspx
- United Network for Organ Sharing: Member Directory(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.unos.org/members/search.asp
- Ventricular Assist Devices (VAD) Destination Therapy Facilities(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) - http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicareApprovedFacilitie/VAD/list.asp
- American Heart Association - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200000
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National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/
- Heart Center Data Profile(Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network) - http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/organDatasource/stateData.asp?type=state&mqsd=1&display=Heart
- Heart Transplants and Statistics(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4588
- Organ Facts: Heart(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.transplantliving.org/beforethetransplant/organfacts/heart.aspx
- Transplant Statistics: National Reports(Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients) - http://www.ustransplant.org/csr/current/nats.aspx
- Heart Transplant(Children's Hospital Boston) - http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site498/mainpageS498P0.html
- What Is Involved in a Heart Transplantation?(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3020346
- Heart Failure - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/heartfailure.html
- Organ Transplantation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/organtransplantation.html
- Blood, Heart and Circulation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bloodheartandcirculation.html
- Transplantation and Donation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/transplantationanddonation.html
The primary NIH organization for research on Heart Transplantation is the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/