Heart lung transplant

A heart-lung transplant is a major surgical procedure. It is used to treat people who have severe, or life threatening, conditions that are affecting both their heart and their lungs, such as severe congenital heart disease (birth defects that affect the normal working of the heart).

During a heart-lung transplant, a donated heart and pair of lungs are taken from a recently deceased donor and are used to replace the patient’s diseased heart and lungs.

A heart-lung transplant is a complex and demanding procedure that carries a high risk of complications, some of which can be fatal. Therefore, a heart-lung transplant is usually only performed when all other treatment options have been exhausted, and there is compelling evidence to suggest that the benefits of the transplant outweigh any risks.

The first heart-lung transplant carried out in the UK was in 1983.

How common are heart-lung transplants?

In the UK, heart-lung transplants are rarely performed, with an average of nine transplants being carried out each year. This is due to the fact that the availability of suitable donors is severely limited. The two main reasons for this are discussed below.

Firstly, most donated hearts are taken from people who are brain dead. Although there is no activity in their brain, and they are legally dead, a ventilator can be used to keep their heart beating, and oxygen circulating through their blood. However, the prolonged use of a ventilator can damage the lungs and make them unsuitable for transplant.

The second problem is that lung tissue rapidly deteriorates once it has been removed from the body. Therefore, a successful donation is only usually possible if the transplant is carried out within 4-6 hours of the lungs being removed from the donor.  This means that a successful donation can only go ahead if the donor and recipient of the transplant are in relatively close geographical proximity.

Due to the limited availability of organs, there remains an important clinical need for members of the public to join the NHS Organ Donor Register.

Glossary

Lung

Lungs are a pair of organs in the chest that control breathing. They remove carbon dioxide from the blood and replace it with oxygen

Heart

The heart is a muscular organ that pumps blood around the body

Donor

A donor is a person (living or dead) who donates blood, an organ or other body parts to another person in need

Congenital

Congenital means a condition that is present at birth. The condition could be hereditary or develop during pregnancy

Hypertension

Hypertension is when the pressure of the blood in your bloodstream is regularly above 140/90mmHG