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Why Do Children Need Heart or Heart-Lung Transplants?

People who have sustained severe damage to their heart and/or lungs, are not responding to other therapies and who are otherwise in good health are often candidates for heart and/or lung transplantation.

Recent Statistics
According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, across the U.S. in 2000:

2,198 heart transplants were performed
956 lung transplants were performed
48 heart-lung transplants were performed

While the numbers change constantly, in October 2001:

More than 250 children and teen-agers were on the waiting list for a heart transplant
More than 200 were waiting for lung transplants
Nearly 40 needed heart-lung transplants.

Of the total number of individuals waiting transplant of these vital organs, children make up:

4 percent of those waiting for a lung transplant
6 percent of those waiting for a heart
18 percent of those waiting for a heart-lung transplant

Why a Transplant?

Children may require a heart and/or lung transplant for several reasons.

For the Heart:

A congenital heart defect can occur while the baby is developing, before birth. The cause and prevention of most of these defects is unknown. On average, six to eight of every 1,000 babies born have congenital heart defects. The more severe defects need to be treated, sometimes with a transplant.
After a child is born, disease, virus or bacteria can cause damage to the heart. Cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle that causes the muscle to weaken and lose its ability to pump blood effectively, is an example of a disease that may require a heart transplant.

For the Lungs:

A birth defect of the heart may cause Eisenmenger’s complex–also called acquired pulmonary hypertension, a condition that increases blood pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs, limiting blood flow and the delivery of oxygen to the entire body.