Most heart transplant recipients go on to live active, normal lives. Heart disease occasionally becomes so severe that medications or conventional surgical procedures cannot correct the problem. Thirty years ago, a failing heart meant certain death.
Surgeons can replace a damaged heart with a healthy one taken from a deceased donor.
Most heart transplant recipients go on to live active, normal lives. But being lucky enough to receive a donor heart does not, in itself, ensure a good outcome. The donor and the transplant recipient must be a good match in terms of certain blood and tissue characteristics, medical urgency, and other factors. Unfortunately, it can take months or even years to find a good match, and this, coupled with the shortage of organs, means that most patients never receive the hearts they need. You and your family members can help by agreeing now to be organ donors.