The Advantages of Heart Transplant

The Advantages of Heart Transplant
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Heart failure

Before knowing the benefits of heart transplant, one should know about heart failure. This condition is indicated by the inability of the heart to provide the necessary amount of blood to specific organs in the body. Heart failure may be caused by varying problems such as coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, congenital heart problems, and heart attack.

When medications and conventional heart surgery fail to treat the condition, the patient who suffers from heart failure must acknowledge the need to do away with the limited medical therapies that are currently being used. The person who suffers from severe heart failure can only generally live up to one and two years more, but this is a fate that can be prevented by knowing what are the benefits of heart transplant and choosing the said operation.

What are the benefits of heart transplant?

Coronary artery disease and cardiomyopathy are the more common coronary heart diseases in need of heart transplantation. Coronary artery disease develops when coronary arteries narrow or harden, and cardiomyopathy is a condition where the heart muscles become very weak. Other heart conditions that warrant transplantation include heart valve diseases, congenital defects and viral infections, the effects of which also weaken the heart.

To discover the benefits of heart transplant, one must look at certain statistics and figures. Standard heart transplants usually enable patients to attain 95% or higher chances of undergoing successful operation. For a patient who meets certain specifications that make him eligible for transplantation, and who chooses to employ the method— it can restore the health and energy he formerly enjoyed prior to the illness. The heart transplant recipients are placed in the advantaged position of leading their former normal and active lives.

The effect of heart transplant to a patient’s lifespan is hard to predict because analyses need to include several factors such as:

  • Success of determining the match of the donor with the recipient
  • Recipient’s age
  • How religiously the recipient observes after-care measures to optimize the heart transplant’s performance and success
  • Time when the transplantation took place

Still, this issue yields proof to anyone who doubts the success of heart transplant because records generally show that transplant recipients can live for about 10 years or more. The longest survival period worldwide lasted for 23 years.

Risks always come with any medical operation; thus, heart transplantation is not spared. To reduce risk, patients should have clear knowledge of the benefits of heart transplant and the possible effects before deciding to opt for the method, which includes indefinite waiting time before a patient finds a matching donor based on the recipient’s body specifications and requirements. Critical knowledge on the benefits, possible consequences, other available options and a positive outlook would help the prospective recipient make a sound and informed decision, not only for survival, but for a better chance to lead a longer, healthy life.

References

https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/cardiology/patient-care/treatments-procedures/heart-transplant.cfm

https://www.heart-transplant.co.uk/faqs.html