The most common indication for heart transplantation is severe end-stage heart failure, which means the heart cannot pump blood well enough to reach all tissues in the body. People who receive heart transplants get them only when their failing hearts do not respond to medicines or other surgical treatments.
Several conditions lead to heart failure, including the following:
Ischemia, or lack of oxygenated blood to the heart (coronary heart disease), leading to heart attack and permanently damaged heart muscle
Heart valve disease, such as with damage from rheumatic fever
Infections of heart tissue, especially heart valves
Untreated, uncontrolled high blood pressure
Heart muscle disease, secondary to multiple causes
Congenital heart defects (certain heart defects that an individual is born with)
Certain drugs
The most common reason people get lung transplants is for chronic obstructive lung diseases such as emphysema. Other people are born with conditions that cause their lungs to fail, such as the following:
Cystic fibrosis
Eisenmenger syndrome, which is due to unoperated congenital heart defects
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
Primary pulmonary hypertension - High pressure in the arteries (of unknown cause) that supply blood to the lungs
Alpha1 antitrypsin deficiency
Circulatory System
Circulatory System, or cardiovascular system, in humans, the combined function of the heart, blood, and blood vessels to transport oxygen and nutrients to organs and tissues throughout the body and carry away waste products. Among its vital functions, the circulatory system increases the flow of blood to meet increased energy demands during exercise and regulates body temperature.
