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The Heart or Heart-Lung Transplant Procedure

Speed is Important
Things happen very quickly when a donor heart or heart and lungs become available for your child, because these vital organs are only viable for a certain length of time when cooled and transported. Currently, a heart can be preserved for only four to six hours. And a heart-lung can only be preserved for three to five hours.

The Surgical Procedure
During the transplant, the patient will be hooked up to a heart-lung machine that keeps the blood circulating while bypassing the heart and lungs. The machine performs the function of the heart by pumping the blood and the function of the lungs in that it removes carbon dioxide as a waste product and replaces it with the oxygen the body needs.

In a heart transplant, the patient’s heart is removed and the new heart is sewn into place. In the case of a heart-lung transplant, the new lungs are attached first, then the new heart. The patient’s blood vessels are then reconnected and blood begins to flow through the heart and lungs again. Sometimes, the surgeons need to give the heart an electrical shock to get it started again, and they ensure there are no leaks before removing the patient from the heart-lung machine.

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