Heart transplants

What is a heart transplant?
A heart transplant is a medical procedure also known as a cardiac transplantation. It involves surgically removing a diseased or dysfunctional heart and replacing it with a healthy human heart from a donor.

Why do people require this procedure?
This procedure is necessary for someone with a diseased, damaged or virally infected heart. As you know, muscles in our body require plenty of oxygen enriched blood, the heart muscle is obviously no exception and this is supplied by the coronary artery. If this artery is clogged by plaque build up or is damaged and not functioning properly, the heart does not receive the blood it requires and the muscle can die. This is not an uncommon condition and it causes heart attack and results in permanent damage to the heart muscle. A person with this condition would require a cardiac transplant. Sometimes people have a dysfunctional heart for other reasons and an alternative medical solution, such as valve replacement ma...