Cheney Operation Underscores Heart Transplant Issues

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/03/26/149341006/cheney-operation-underscores-heart-transplant-issues
     Recently, our former vice president Dick Cheney received a heart transplant from the Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va. His transplant is showing how much heart transplants have changed over time, but also how his case is unusual. Because hearts are in short supply, the heart normally goes to the sickest person who is the closest. That often means waiting, with Cheney waiting twenty months for his new heart. He is above the normal age for a transplant, which is between 50 and 64. This is because the patients are more likely to not survive the operation, or die soon after. Cheney is 71. Also he has had many heart operations already, which is difficult because it makes it harder for the surgeon. Also the older the patient, the harder the recovery will be. For the next year rejection and infection are major risks. Cheney will have to undergo arduous rehab.For the rest of his life, he will have to take strong anti-rejection drugs. His age and previous operations make his an unusual candidate for a transplant.

     This relates to our unit on both the circulatory system and the immune system.The heart is the major organ of the circulatory system, and Cheney received a heart transplant. Without his heart, he would die. Also now that the transplant is complete, he is facing his own immune system. His immune system might not recognize all the tissues in his heart, and will attack it, rejecting the organ. Also because he is suppressing his immune system with anti-rejection drugs, he is facing infections that might come in and attack his unprotected heart. His heart is in a dangerous balance and is connected the immune and circulatory systems.

Rob Stein. March 26, 2012