A Short Guide To Heart Transplants
Sara Nicole
These days, you can visit the best heart transplant hospital in Chennai or a government hospital’s cardiology department in New Delhi, you will find many a people there. A tell a tale sign of India’s fragile state when it comes to matters of the heart. Even the Times of India carried a piece which said, ‘Heart attack kills one person every 33 seconds in India’.
This brings us to our main point about a heart transplant. There is an increasing need for it. According to India Today, ‘Nearly 50,000 heart patients require transplant every year.’
Before 1994, Indians had to fly abroad for a heart transplant but post the President’s assent for the Transplantation of Human Organs Bill, Indians can undergo a heart transplant procedure in India.
What is it?
A heart transplant is a surgical procedure where the patient’s diseased heart is replaced with a donor’s healthy heart.
Why is it performed?
A heart transplant is performed when a heart failure is so severe that no other treatments have any effect. This can be caused due to several conditions. Some of them are:
Ø Coronary artery disease.
Ø Dilated cardiomyopathy.
Ø Heart problems from birth.
Ø Failure of a previous heart transplant.
Ø Amyloidosis.
Who is eligible?
To undergo a heart transplant is not a simple process. One first needs to get onto a donor list. He or she should have an end stage heart failure. To get on the list, the concerned patient has to undergo a number of physical and psychological tests.
Main concerns are the patient’s ability to survive the transplant procedure, any pre-existing diseases, and lifestyle factors.
If the patient clears these tests, he or she is put on the donor list.