“Heart transplant question”
I had a friend receive a new heart just recently. I am so happy for her. She seems to be doing really well and feeling healthy. You hear about organ rejection though. Does this happen suddenly? Can someone who appears to be doing well suddenly reject the organ?
7 Answers
Unfortunately after the heart transplant surgery there is always the risk of rejection, that’s why anti rejection medications are given to the patient to prevent that. The rejection is not a sudden event and usually happens over a period of time. That’s why regular follow up with the physician is very important.
There is no specific time frame in which one develops rejection. Patients can be completely asymptomatic or develop symptoms. Thus the need for lifetime follow-up and testing.
No it’s gradual
Acute rejection tends to occur more in the first year after heart transplantation. The patient may or may not have symptoms, sometimes the patient can be very sick. It is diagnosed by endomyocardial biopsy, which is routinely done at certain intervals after the heart transplant procedure. Treatment usually requires additional immunosuppression.
Rejection to a transplanted organ can happen at any time. Most of the time it is a slow process. Sometimes, it happens suddenly. It is very important that the advice of the transplant cardiologists is strictly followed and the patient adheres to immunosuppressive regimen completely. It is very unusual to suddenly reject an organ after doing well in the early recovery period.
Rejection is usually slow. Patients should have routine biopsies by the transplant team to check microscopically for rejection. When it occurs, it can often be stopped by additional medicine.
Hopefully this answers your question.
Hopefully this answers your question.
Juan P. Montoya
Cardiothoracic Surgeon
Transplant rejection is very variable amongst different patients. The most serious is called hyper acute rejection which is antibodies already formed against the new heart. This is seen in the immediate surgical period once the heart is in. Typically if the patient is noncompliant with their immunosuppressive medications, the heart can be rejected quite quickly.
Routine biopsies will tell you if the heart is doing well or rejecting in some way. The patient would be having symptoms such as shortness of breath and congestive heart failure if the heart started being rejected. All of a sudden can happen if the patient has a heart attack. Hope this helps!
Routine biopsies will tell you if the heart is doing well or rejecting in some way. The patient would be having symptoms such as shortness of breath and congestive heart failure if the heart started being rejected. All of a sudden can happen if the patient has a heart attack. Hope this helps!
