Heart transplantation is the surgical procedure that is reserved for individuals with severe heart failure and by which a healthy heart is provided by a recently donated donor.
There is talk of heart failure when a person's heart is irreparably damaged and no longer "works" as it should; in other words, it is difficult to pump blood into the circulation and to supply the various organs and tissues of the body with oxygen.
The state of heart failure may be due to: coronary heart disease, cardiomyopathies, defects of the heart valves ( valvulopathies ) and congenital heart defects .
According to some reliable statistical studies, the traditional intervention procedure ( orthotopic procedure ) has improved a lot over the last 20 years and, as of 5 June 2009, had the following post-operative survival values:
- One year after the operation, survival was 88% for men and 86.2% for women
- 3 years after the operation, survival was 79.3% for men and 77.2% for women
- At 5 from the operation, survival was 73.2% and 69% for women
Furthermore, from another interesting US study carried out between 1999 and 2007, it emerged that men who receive a healthy heart from a woman have an additional 15% chance of developing complications within the first 5 years after surgery ; particularity that does not occur in inverted parts: women, in fact, react in the same way to transplantation, whether they receive the heart of a man or that they receive it from a woman.
