Exceptional Outcomes for Heart Transplant Patients since 1984
Loyola Medicine offers the highest level of integrated, multidisciplinary care for advanced heart patients who are in need of a heart transplant. Loyola’s cardiology & heart surgery care is known for taking on the most challenging cases and providing follow-up care for hundreds of heart transplant patients. If you’ve been turned down by another transplant center, consider getting a second opinion at Loyola.
A heart transplant, also called cardiac transplant or heart transplantation, is surgery to remove a damaged or diseased heart and replace it with a healthy donor heart. Preparation for a heart transplant is an extensive process and includes a detailed evaluation, a search for a donor heart, the transplant surgery and a recovery period.
Heart transplant surgery may be a life-saving treatment for individuals with end-stage and advanced heart failure. It is an extensive surgery most often used when other medications and surgical procedures do not work to treat your condition.
While you wait for a heart, you may face other health challenges related to your condition. Loyola’s subspecialists provide expertise in a wide range of health conditions, and your transplant team will facilitate a referral to an appropriate specialist if needed.
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 and psychologists.
We have one goal: restoring you to better health.
What are the Different Types of Heart Transplants?
Heart transplant patients can benefit from two kinds of transplants:
- Heart transplant — This surgery removes a diseased or damaged heart and replaces it with a donated heart that is a close match to the transplant patient’s tissue type.
- Heart-lung transplant — In this procedure, the diseased or damaged heart and lungs are removed and replaced with a donated heart and lungs. This is often the recommended therapy for people with severe pulmonary hypertension.
Alternatives to Transplant
Your Loyola surgeon may suggest the following treatments as an alternative to transplant 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 or advanced heart failure.
- Medical management — Your Loyola doctors may prescribe a medication change or increase in dose in order 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 percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass graft procedures, this procedure may reduce pain and eliminate the need for medication.
- Percutaneous VAD implantation — Loyola also offers the TandemHeart® percutaneous ventricular assist device (PVAD) for patients with advanced heart disease.
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:
- Advanced heart disease
- Cardiomyopathy
- Complex adult congenital heart disease or defect
- Coronary artery disease
- Dilated cardiomyopathy
- Heart failure and advanced heart failure
- Heart valve disease
- Life-threatening arrhythmias, or abnormal heartbeats or rhythms, that do not respond to other treatments
- Restrictive myopathy
- Severe angina that can no longer be treated with medications or other surgeries
- Valvular 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 VAD 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
Each medical system may have different requirements when determining eligibility for a heart transplant. However, some common criteria include:
- Age: Being over 70 years old may disqualify you.
- Financial support: Make sure you have health insurance to cover the procedure. Loyola can help you find insurance if you're not covered.
- Overall health: Some health conditions might prevent or delay a heart transplant, such as active cancer, uncontrolled diabetes, obesity, or current alcohol or drug abuse.
- Support system: You will need help after your heart transplant. Loyola helps you identify people who can support you during recovery.
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. You 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.
Recovery After Heart Surgery
Before your surgery, you will be given a strict schedule for your immunosuppressive medication, which is very important to follow. You will need to take these medications for the rest of your life to prevent your body from rejecting your donated heart.
These medications work by lowering your body’s immune response to the new tissue, but this will make you more vulnerable to infection, especially in the first several months. You should call your nurse coordinator right away if you develop these signs of organ rejection:
- Chills
- Extra pain around incision site
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Fluid in the lungs
- Redness, swelling, bleeding or drainage from incision site
- Shortness of breath
- Urinating less than usual
- Weight gain from water retention
Within the first day, you may notice a difference in how you feel due to your new, healthy heart. Your nurse coordinator will map out your lab tests and doctor visits to assess how your heart is functioning.
You will have many lab visits, heart function tests and doctor appointments in the first year after surgery, and gradually your primary care doctor will start to take over your care. Complete recovery time varies from patient to patient.
To learn more, read about our heart transplant frequently asked questions.
What are the Risks of Heart Transplant Surgery?
Whether you have suffered from advanced heart failure, cardiomyopathy or another condition, a heart transplant may be the best treatment for your condition. Yet all surgery involves risks. The risks of heart transplant surgery include:
- Bleeding
- Blood clots
- Cancer (from immunosuppressive drugs)
- Coronary artery disease
- Death
- Heart attack
- Heart rejection
- Heart rhythm problems
- Hypertension
- High cholesterol levels, diabetes and osteoporosis (from immunosuppressive drugs)
- Infection
- Kidney and liver damage (from immunosuppressive drugs)
- Stroke
- Vascular problem
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
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.
