heart transplantation

Imagine an engine so worn out that no repair will keep it running, so it is replaced entirely with a working engine from a donor. Heart transplantation is the surgical replacement of a severely failing heart with a healthy heart donated by a person who has died, offering a new pump when all other treatments have been exhausted.

The operation removes most of the diseased heart and sews the donor heart into place, reconnecting the great vessels, while cardiopulmonary bypass maintains circulation. Because the immune system would attack the new organ as foreign, recipients must take immunosuppressant medicines for life and undergo regular monitoring, including biopsies, to detect and treat rejection early.

Transplantation is reserved for end-stage heart failure when other options will not suffice, and it can restore years of good-quality life. Its great limitations are the scarcity of donor hearts and the lifelong consequences of immunosuppression — infection risk, drug side effects, and a gradual narrowing of the transplanted heart’s own arteries over time. Mechanical support such as a ventricular assist device often bridges patients while they wait.