Research Assessment #6

Name: Milind Renjit

Date: 10/23/18

Subject: Heart Transplant

Teacher: Mrs. Brittain

MLA citation:  

 

Clinic, Mayo. “Heart Transplant.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 23 Mar. 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/heart-transplant/about/pac-20384750.

 

Assessment:

 

For the first makeup research assessment, I researched the highly difficult and intricate surgical procedure known as the heart transplant. The article titled, “Heart transplant”, is an informational article published by the Mayo Clinic. Being one of the top-rated hospitals in the world, the information given can be trusted and extremely resourceful. This article provides readers with the surface level knowledge they need to understand what a heart transplant entails. Everything from the why a heart transplant is performed to the exercise required after the heart transplant is explained thoroughly. Since heart transplants are some of the longest and most rigorous surgeries performed today, learning as much as I can about the procedure can really help me become more knowledgeable about what can be expected in the field of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Especially from both the surgeons and patients perspective. This article has allowed me the ability to gain a better understanding of the field and how heart transplants are conducted and why.

 

The article starts off by defining what exactly a heart transplant is and why it is done. The most interesting factor of the transplant process that stood out to me was the sheer speed that is required to perform the surgery successfully. 4 hours of time within a donor being identified, the heart had to find a new host and be put into the new body to be a still viable heart. Doing such a feat seems nearly impossible given the time frame, but through planning and advanced transportation, hearts are being flown nationwide and even from country to country to receive a new host. This truly shows how technology and scientific innovation is becoming an increasingly important part of medicine. In the case of being able to get an organ to a critical patient, it is crucial.

 

Heart transplant surgeries are usually performed for very specific cases regarding only the worst cases with the hearts in the worst conditions. With conditions like a weakening of the heart muscle (cardiomyopathy), coronary artery disease, heart valve disease, a congenital heart defect, dangerous recurring abnormal heart rhythms (ventricular arrhythmias) that have not been solved by other treatments, Amyloidosis, and failures of  previous heart transplants can all call for a heart transplant surgery. These are all conditions that have seen an increase in frequency throughout the years, which means that the heart transplant procedure will most likely not be phased out of practice. The fate of Heart transplants lies in the advancements that will be made in technology regarding 3d printed organs and technologies such as that. This gives my generation of physicians and surgeons the ability to completely transform the way transplants are done by making them more efficient than ever before.

 

However, there are a number of risks that can come from such an intensive procedure. Heart transplant surgeries require open heart surgery to occur and this can lead to bleeding, infection, blood clots, heart attack, stroke, rejection of the donor's heart, coronary artery complications, side effects of medicine, cancer, infection, and possibly death. Getting to know these risks early in my quest to become a cardiothoracic surgeon can really help me understand where there is room for improvement. Understanding the cons and risks of heart transplant surgery will better equip me to one day help reduce its effects or solve them.

 

In conclusion, heart transplant surgery is one of the most intricate and difficult procedures done in the operating room today. It can entail a lightning fast extraction and installation of the donor's heart into the new body in times that seem impossible. All in all learning about the various aspects of heart transplant surgery is something that I am very grateful for. Having the ability to acquire knowledge on one of the most complex procedures in cardiac surgery is something that can greatly benefit me on my road to becoming a cardiothoracic surgeon. Hopefully, this knowledge will help me advance medicine as a whole and make some of the difficulties experienced in this era, minor hiccups in the future.