Surgical aspects of heart transplantation

Abstract:

Heart transplantation is a surgical procedure where an end-stage failing heart is replaced with a heart of appropriate donor. It is indicated for patients with expected survival less than one year despite optimal medical therapy and those unsuitable for a conventional heart surgery. Heart transplantation offers excellent long-term survival. According to the current data of International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, 1-year, 5-year and 10-year survival rates are 81%, 68% and 50%, respectively. These survival rates are the result of decades-long development of surgical techniques, immunosuppressive therapy and algorithms for recipient and donor selection, and excellent organization and cooperation of all involved medical specialties. 

Key words:
cardiac surgical procedures; heart transplantation; survival rate