• Question: My auntie best friend says he is having a heart tranplant is that even possible

    Asked by abbysixx to Andrew, Ash, Gem, Paige, SJ on 27 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: SarahJayne Boulton

      SarahJayne Boulton answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      Yes heart transplants are possible, there are about 120-130 heart transplants caried out every year.
      The donor hearts usually come from the otherwise healthy victims of road traffic accidents. The operation takes about 4-6 hours and is really quite a ricky operation!!

      here’s some more info about heart transplants from the Transplant Society and the British Heart Foundation::

      http://www.bts.org.uk/transplantation/heart/

      http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/treatment/heart-transplant.aspx

    • Photo: Paige Brown

      Paige Brown answered on 28 Jun 2012:

      YES! Heart transplants, which means that the heart comes from another person who has deceased, are very possible. However, usually the patient who receives the heart always has to be on immune depressants in order to stop the body from rejecting the implant.

      Artificial mechanical heart transplants are also possible! These are usually used in a donor heart transplant is not possible or has not worked. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_heart

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