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Exceptional Outcomes for Heart Transplant Patients since 1984
The heart transplant program at Loyola Medicine is committed to excellence in the care and education of patients with advanced heart failure and heart transplantation. Through academic distinction and research, we continuously evolve to provide cutting-edge therapies. We aim to improve our patients' length and quality of life.
The highest level of integrated, multidisciplinary care is offered to advanced heart failure patients who are in need of a heart transplant. Our cardiology and cardiovascular surgery care teams are known for taking on the most challenging cases and delivering specialized, advanced treatment. Our heart team, including our subspecialists who are experts in a variety of health conditions, are ready to help you.
Advanced Cardiac Transplantation Technology and Expert Team
Our heart transplant team uses the latest technology and advancements in organ procurement and preservation to maintain the integrity of the donor's heart. These advancements help improve our patients' short term and long term recovery.
At Loyola, you will have an entire team on your side, including:
Your cardiologist
Transplant surgeon
LVAD specialists
Nurse coordinators
Procurement coordinators
Infectious disease specialists
Nurse practitioners
Anesthesiologists
Transplant chaplains
Physical therapists
Dietitians
Financial coordinators
Clinical pharmacists
Social workers
Psychologists
Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine
Loyola’s Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine houses one of the top-rated cardiovascular programs in the country. This dedicated facility on the Loyola University Medical Center campus brings Loyola’s cardiology and heart transplant specialists together under one roof, helping our doctors better collaborate on patient care and treatment options. We also facilitate lifestyle changes and genetic counseling for family members who are at risk for heart disease.
As a patient at Loyola, you will enjoy improved access to cardiac testing areas, as well as heart and vascular specialists. We provide a comprehensive range of services, including:
Cardiac surgical procedures
Diagnostic angiography
Initial screenings and evaluations
Non-invasive diagnostic exams
Non-surgical and minimally invasive treatments
Vascular testing
In addition to convenience, Loyola facilities offer state-of-the-art technology and procedures for all of your treatment needs including:
Cardiovascular interventional lab
Electrophysiology lab
Hybrid operating room
World-class cardiovascular imaging
What Diseases are Treated with Heart Transplant?
Loyola’s cardiologists and transplant surgeons are well versed in every type of heart disease and failure. Your healthcare team will explore conservative treatments first and foremost. If your condition is not well controlled with other treatments, a heart transplant may be the best medical option. Some heart conditions that may require a heart transplant include:
Severe angina that can no longer be treated with medications or other surgeries
Valvular heart disease
Loyola Medicine Welcomes Patients Seeking Second Opinions
When a patient seeks a second opinion, they're looking for a fresh interpretation of a given diagnosis or treatment plan from a different doctor.
Getting a second opinion is a normal part of finding treatment and can increase your confidence in your diagnosis and treatment plans. It also ensures you choose a physician you have a comfortable rapport with. New clinical trials or treatments are also only being performed by certain physicians.
Ongoing Clinical Trials to Advance Heart Transplant Research
Loyola is conducting research today that will lead to the treatments of tomorrow. As an academic medical center, Loyola can offer groundbreaking treatments through ongoing national trials and clinical research.
Our program currently is participating in multicenter clinical trials for disease treatment, LVAD registry, medication usage and clinical outcomes. Loyola patients will be granted access to the latest medications and therapies through our clinical trials.
Meet Our Team
Experienced and Compassionate Team Supports Your Heart Transplant
Doctors at Loyola Medicine are experienced and compassionate in caring for patients with end-stage heart failure and advanced heart failure. Once your cardiologist has determined that your best medical option is a heart transplant, you will be evaluated for the possibility of a transplant through a number of tests to determine if your body is strong enough to tolerate the surgery and required medication. Once your test results are in and you are officially eligible for a heart transplant, you will meet your heart transplant team.
Your Loyola heart transplant team will be your partner in finding a suitable organ match. During this time, your transplant team will support you in your efforts to stay healthy while you wait for your transplant surgery. It is important that you continue all treatment as recommended, take all medications as prescribed, follow the dietary plan provided by your nutritionist, stay active and keep all appointments with your healthcare team.
Once a match is found, your transplant team will guide you through the process of preparing your body for transplant surgery, providing expert care during your surgery and supporting you in recovery. This multidisciplinary group of expert clinicians and support staff includes:
Transplant cardiologist
Transplant cardiothoracic surgeon
Pre-transplant and post-transplant coordinators
LVAD coordinator
Nurse practitioners
Physical therapist
Procurement nurse
Psychologist
Chaplain
Clinical pharmacist
Dietitian
Financial coordinator
Social worker
Multidisciplinary Experts in Heart Transplant Surgery and Recovery
Your Loyola heart transplant team includes the following expert clinicians who will support you in all aspects of your transplant care and recovery:
Transplant cardiologist — Your transplant cardiologist is a doctor who specializes in heart failure, advanced heart failure and end-stage heart disease. Your cardiologist will conduct your evaluation and diagnose your condition, whether it is due to coronary artery disease, a heart birth defect or other disorders. Your doctor will determine if you are a candidate for heart transplant surgery and will help keep you in the best of health while you wait for a heart transplant or a heart pump.
Transplant cardiothoracic surgeon — Your heart surgeon is the specialist who will perform your heart transplant surgery. When you meet your transplant surgeon during your evaluation, we encourage you to ask any questions you have about the procedure. You will see your surgeon mostly during your hospital stay. Loyola’s surgeons are highly skilled; learn more about heart transplant surgery.
Pre-transplant and post-transplant coordinators — Your nurse coordinators play a central role in your care and are experts in transplant patient care. They are registered nurses who will arrange the tests included in your evaluation while you wait for an organ donation. Our nurse coordinators have extensive experience with chronic diseases and will instruct you on all aspects of transplant surgery, including immunosuppressive drugs, psychosocial assessment, financial issues, coping skills and your transplant risks and benefits. Your coordinators also will make arrangements for your surgery and hospital stay. After your transplant surgery, your coordinators will help you with your hospital discharge and set up any needed lab tests and follow-up appointments.
LVAD coordinator — Your LVAD coordinators are nurses who evaluate and provide care for patients who will undergo an implant surgery for a left-ventricular assist device (LVAD) as a bridge to transplant or as a treatment for heart disease. Your LVAD coordinator will provide education about the device and will be available 24 hours a day for questions or concerns.
Nurse practitioners — Loyola’s nurse practitioners work collaboratively with your doctors to prescribe medications, diagnose conditions and develop treatment plans. They also will make sure that you understand every step in the transplant process. In addition, our nurse practitioners are adept at recognizing the signs of rejection and infection.
Physical therapist — Loyola’s physical therapists provide evaluations, rehabilitation and treatment for our transplant patients. The goals in physical therapy are to assist you in achieving an optimal level of independence and function and to promote your health and rehabilitation. You have been coping with your illness for some time, which has left you in a weakened state; your physical therapist will help you recover your strength and movement. Learn more about cardiac rehabilitation.
Procurement nurse — As part of the transplant team at Loyola, procurement nurse coordinators are closely involved in the complicated and detailed process of coordinating your transplant. Our procurement coordinators are on call every day of the year to help facilitate organ donation and transplant surgery. Procurement coordinators not only assist you with the transplant evaluation and testing, but also serve as key facilitators for listing and maintaining the appropriate status on the transplant waiting list.
Psychologist — The transplant process can be an emotionally difficult time for patients and their families. Often patients are confused about the rationale for seeing a psychologist during the workup for a medical procedure. Research has shown that prior history of mood problems, substance abuse, lack of social support and noncompliance are associated with poor medical outcomes after surgery. Psychologists can help to identify and address these issues prior to transplant surgery to help improve outcomes. Your transplant psychologist’s main role is to conduct an initial psychosocial evaluation and provide supportive follow-up throughout the waiting, recovery and rehabilitative phases of transplant.
Chaplain — Loyola’s transplant chaplains are essential members of your healthcare team. Just as Loyola’s doctors and nurses specialize in the treatment of transplant patients, our chaplains’ experience is specific to the Transplant Center. They understand the emotional, spiritual and physical needs that are particular to our transplant patients. Loyola’s chaplains also can contact your church, parish, synagogue, mosque or house of worship to arrange a visit with your faith leader.
Clinical pharmacist — Your clinical pharmacist will provide you with instructions on the medications that you will take after your transplant. Your clinical pharmacist will evaluate the drugs you are prescribed and monitor any side effects you may experience. In addition, your pharmacist will be on the watch for any possible negative drug interactions. As a key member of your medical team, your pharmacist will monitor and adjust your anti-rejection medication if necessary.
Dietitian — Your transplant dietitian’s role is to help you reach your nutrition goals. At your first appointment, your dietitian will assess your nutrition habits, look into any possible vitamin and mineral deficiencies, conduct a nutrition and weight history, assess any need for weight loss and talk about possible dietary restrictions. With this information, your dietitian will develop a nutritional plan to help you be as healthy as possible for your transplant surgery.
Financial coordinator — We know that the thought of a transplant can be overwhelming—not just emotionally, but financially as well. Loyola’s financial coordinators are well-versed in insurance protocols and will do the heavy lifting for you. Your coordinator will find out whether your insurance covers procedures at Loyola and connect you with an insurance case manager. In addition, financial coordinators work with your nurses and insurance case manager to make sure that your insurance has approved you for a transplant and pre-certified you for hospital admission.
Social worker — Loyola’s transplant social workers are involved in all aspects of the transplant process. They are skilled in psychosocial assessments and provide a wide range of services for patients and their families, including patient and family counseling, patient education, financial resources and support groups. Social workers see patients in the hospital, outpatient clinics and are available for phone consultations.
If you would like to make an appointment or need assistance in finding the appropriate doctor, please call us today.
What are the Different Types of Heart Transplants?
Heart patients can benefit from three kinds of transplants:
Heart transplant — A surgery that removes a diseased or damaged heart and replaces it with a donor heart.
Heart-lung transplant — A surgery that is performed for unsalvageable dual cardiac and pulmonary failure.
Heart-kidney transplant — A surgery that is performed when both cardiac and renal organs are in end-stage failure.
Alternatives to Cardiac Transplantation
Your Loyola surgeon may suggest the following treatments as an alternative to cardiac transplantation or as a bridge to transplant surgery:
LVAD implantation — Loyola’s internationally recognized team of cardiothoracic surgeons specializes in using left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) to treat patients with heart disease or advanced heart failure.
Medical management — Your Loyola doctors may prescribe a medication change or increase in dose to properly manage your condition while waiting for a suitable organ match.
Myocardial revascularization — For patients with ischemic heart disease who are not good candidates for a balloon or stent placement in the heart vessel, or for coronary artery bypass surgery, this procedure may reduce pain and eliminate the need for medication.
Temporary VAD implantation — Loyola also offers the Impella® and Cardiohelp® short-term ventricular assist devices (VAD) for patients with advanced heart disease.
Evaluation for Advanced Therapies
Your cardiologist may recommend an evaluation of advanced therapy options for the treatment of your heart failure. Our advanced heart failure cardiology team will work with you to confirm your diagnosis of end-stage heart failure and start your VAD evaluation. The evaluation has several steps and we will guide you through the process.
Depending on your condition, the advanced heart failure cardiologist may request additional testing in addition to our routine evaluation to gain a comprehensive representation of your past and present health history. A routine evaluation includes:
Review of health history with the medical team
Extensive cardiac testing
Imaging
Blood work
Cancer screening
Psycho-social consultation
Palliative care consultation
Some conditions are barriers to VAD implantation, including alcohol and substance abuse problems, an inability to comply with treatment (such as following a complex medication plan), a lack of social and financial support, and uncontrolled or untreatable mental illnesses.
The Medical Review Board will discuss your case and decide whether a heart transplant would be a treatment option available for you. Loyola offers behavioral health treatments that can help you meet the requirements for a heart transplant.
Heart Transplant Requirements
The Loyola Medicine Heart Transplant Program carefully assesses patients with advanced heart failure to determine if they are good candidates for a heart transplant. Ideal candidates for a heart transplant typically:
Are physically capable of undergoing heart surgery
Have a high potential to strongly recover after heart surgery
Are able to take care of themselves after heart surgery
Maintain a healthy lifestyle
Treatment
If you are given approval as a heart transplant candidate, you will be placed on the national waiting list with the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). Your wait time for a donor heart depends on many factors, including your medical urgency, compatibility to the donor and geography (organs are matched within the same region whenever possible). Your heart transplant team will keep you up to date on all tests and treatments. We will also work with you on your exercise and nutritional plans so that you are ready for surgery once a suitable donor heart is available. Your care team will prepare you for the day that a donor match arrives.
It is extremely important during this time that you keep your scheduled appointments with your medical team and keep them informed of any changes in address, insurance, phone number or vacation plans. Your transplant team must be able to reach you within a moment’s notice if your donor heart becomes available.
A strong partnership with good communication is the key to a successful transplant surgery and recovery. Your care team will guide you through this journey, ensuring you receive all necessary health care testing and appointments needed while waiting for a donor heart to become available.
Life After Heart Transplantation
Heart transplantation is a major open chest surgery and recovery time may vary. Patients will come directly out of the operating room and recover in the cardiovascular intensive care unit, located next to the operating room.
As the patient progresses, they will transition out of the intensive care unit to our cardiothoracic step-down unit. Members of our multi-disciplinary team will be working with the patient and caregivers to prepare everyone for a successful discharge from the hospital.
Our multi-disciplinary care team will work with the patient and family with any roadblocks that may come across while preparing for discharge, such as:
Learning how to care for your new heart
Learning how to manage your medication
Tips to prevent rejection of the new heart
How to prevent infection
Rehabilitation needs that promote a healthy lifestyle and create the pathway to full recovery
Your Transplant Team
Loyola's transplant team will continue to care for you and your new heart after surgery to ensure the best quality of life possible. Your team may include:
Transplant physician
Transplant nurse coordinator
Transplant pharmacist
Transplant dietitian
Transplant social worker
Transplant psychologist
Rehabilitation services
Heart transplantation requires a strong commitment and close follow-up from the patient. Our heart transplant team remains a strong partner in your post-transplant lifestyle and is here to collaborate with you each step of the way.
Common Questions about Heart Transplants
If your Loyola cardiologist or cardiovascular surgeon has recommended a heart transplant as your best medical option, we understand that you will have many questions.
Explore the frequently asked questions and answers under the before surgery and after surgery tabs to find answers to many of the questions you may have. We expect that you have many concerns about your transplant surgery and are available to answer your questions at your appointment times.
What to Expect Before Heart Transplant Surgery
Loyola Medicine has partnered with Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network as part of the Hospitals for Hope campaign. You can register to become an organ and tissue donor on the Gift of Hope's website. Your decision can make an impact that will save and enhance countless lives.
In our region, the average wait time for a heart on the national waiting list is seven months. Your Loyola transplant team will continue to manage your condition and keep you healthy until you receive your transplant.
Insurance, whether private, Medicare or Medicaid, will pay for your evaluation and surgery. Please contact your insurance company for specific levels of coverage.
Talk to your cardiologist to see if a heart transplant is right for you. You also can contact our team and a transplant nurse will answer your questions.
Although you may have been told you need a transplant, several tests must be done to evaluate your overall health, including how your heart, lungs and kidneys are functioning. After your tests are completed, your doctors will review your results and propose the best treatment for you. Learn about our evaluation for heart transplant process.
Once patients are identified as potential heart transplant candidates, they undergo several days of extensive tests and consults. The heart transplant team will then review and discuss the results to determine if the patient should be listed for transplant surgery.
Heart transplants are routinely performed for patients of all ages. A person will not be denied a transplant based on age alone.
Once you are deemed a suitable transplant candidate, your name will be placed on the national waiting list with the United Network for Organ Sharing, also known as UNOS. You can visit the UNOS website for research and educational articles on transplant surgery.
Waiting for a donor heart can be a stressful experience. During this time, there are important steps that transplant candidates can take to ensure they are ready for surgery when the important call comes. In some cases, a patient may need to undergo a heart pump surgery, also known as a left ventricular assist device implantation (LVAD), while waiting for a transplant. Let your healthcare team know if any of your contact information changes, so they may contact you right away if a heart becomes available.
Periodic testing will be required to monitor your health while you are waiting for a donor.
When called in for transplant surgery, your nurse coordinator will give you instructions on when to come to the hospital and where to go.
Heart transplant surgery can take from six to 12 hours, with variation from patient to patient based on the complexity of the operation.
What to Expect After Heart Transplant Surgery
After your transplant surgery, you will be taken to the intensive care unit, where you will be closely monitored. Your hospital stay can vary depending on the severity of your illness before the transplant or other factors.
Your level of pain will be carefully monitored and controlled with medicine administered through your IV. When you start eating again, the pain medication will be given as pills or tablets.
Following transplant surgery, you will be on a breathing machine. The tube will be removed as soon as your doctor determines that you are well enough to breathe on your own. This is usually done within the first 24 to 48 hours.
Visiting hours are set to allow you the time to recover after your surgery. Visiting hours for most hospital patients at Loyola are from 9 am to 9 pm.
Your incision will be closed with small adhesive bandages. As your wound heals, these bandages will fall off.
Following transplant surgery, you will have several follow-up appointments. Heart transplant patients require periodic blood work, radiology testing, echocardiograms and endomyocardial biopsies (EMB). These tests monitor how your new heart is functioning.
You will have to take these medications for as long as you have a transplanted organ. The anti-rejection medications are extremely important and must be taken every day, preferably at the same time, to prevent rejection.
Before being discharged from the hospital, you will be instructed about your exercise plan and activities to avoid while healing from surgery.
The goal of transplant surgery is to allow you to return to your former activities, including work. Work clearance is given on an individual basis.
You will have several follow-up appointments after being discharged from the hospital, including cardiology, surgery and endocrine visits. You will be given an appointment schedule before you are discharged from the hospital.
You will be given a list of important phone numbers with instructions on whom and when to call prior to discharge.
Rehabilitation is required following transplant to increase strength and endurance. Rehabilitation can be performed on an inpatient or outpatient basis. Your social worker will assist you in finding a convenient rehabilitation facility.
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Request an Appointment
Loyola's expert and recognized transplant team has one goal: restoring you to better health.
Schedule an appointment with any of our heart, lung, liver, pancreas or kidney transplant specialists or learn about our living donor transplant programs today.
