Heart Transplant

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A heart transplant is a surgical procedure performed to remove the diseased heart from a patient and replace it with a healthy one from an organ donor. In order to remove the heart from the donor, two or more physicians must declare the donor brain-dead.

Before a person can be put on a waiting list for a heart transplant, a physician makes the determination that there is no other treatment option available for the person's heart failure.

The heart is the hardest working muscle in the human body. Located almost in the center of the chest, the adult human heart is about the size of one fist.

At an average rate of 80 times a minute, the heart beats about 115,000 times in one day or 42 million times in a year. During an average lifetime, the human heart will beat more than 3 billion times - pumping an amount of blood that equals about 1 million barrels. Even when a person is at rest, the heart is continuously hard at work.

How the heart works:

The cardiovascular system, composed of the heart and blood vessels, is responsible for circulating blood throughout your body to supply the tissues with oxygen and nutrients.

The heart is the muscle that pumps blood filled with oxygen and nutrients through the blood vessels to the body tissues. It is made up of:

• Four chambers (two atria and two ventricles) that receive blood from the body (the atria) and pump out blood to it (the ventricles).

  • The right atrium receives blood from the body, which is high in oxygen and low in carbon dioxide.

  • The right ventricle pumps the blood from the right atrium into the lungs to provide it with oxygen and remove carbon dioxide. 

  • The left atrium receives blood from the lungs, which is rich in oxygen.

  • The left ventricle pumps the blood from the left atrium into the body, supplying all organs with blood.

• Blood vessels, which compose a network of arteries and veins that carry blood throughout the body.

  • Arteries transport blood from the heart to the body tissues.

  • Veins carry blood back to the heart.

• Four valves to prevent backward flow of blood.

  • Each valve is designed to allow the forward flow of blood and prevent  backward flow.

• An electrical system of the heart that stimulates contraction of the heart muscle.

Reasons for the Procedure

Heart transplantation is performed to replace a failing heart that cannot be adequately treated by other means.