Why do I need a heart transplant?
There can be many reasons why your heart is weak and your doctor feels you may need a heart transplant. These reasons include:
You have a type of heart failure that causes the heart to get bigger and pump poorly. This is called cardiomyopathy. The cause may be from a virus, after giving birth to a baby (post-partum), or may be unknown.
Your heart muscle has been hurt by heart attacks. This causes the heart to pump poorly and may cause frequent or severe chest pain.
You were born with a heart that does not work well.
You have a dangerous heartbeat that could cause you to die suddenly.
When your old heart can no longer be helped with medicine or other surgeries, then a heart transplant may be the treatment of choice for your condition.
Anatomy of the Heart
The heart is a muscle that pumps oxygen rich blood to all parts of your body. It is made up of four chambers: the right and left atria, and the right and left ventricles. Blood returning to the heart from the body enters the vena cava and flows into the right atrium. From there it empties into the right ventricle. The blood pumped through the right side of the heart has a very low amount of oxygen. When this blood reaches the right ventricle it is pumped through the pulmonary artery to the lungs. The blood gets oxygen in the lungs. The blood then goes from the lungs into the left atrium and is emptied into the left ventricle. The left ventricle is the main pumping chamber of the heart. From the left ventricle the oxygen rich blood is pumped to the body and the heart muscle (by the coronary arteries) through the aorta.