Heart transplants: Who performs them, and where are they done?

A heart transplant is an extremely complicated operation that lasts approximately 7 hours, or longer if there are complications. You should consult with your current cardiologist to help choose a cardiothoracic surgeon who is right for you and your transplant.

Before choosing a cardiothoracic surgeon, consider:

• The number of transplants the surgeon has performed. Surgeons who perform more procedures often have better outcomes than those with more limited experience.
• The hospital where the surgeon will perform your transplant. The location of the transplant center affects the availability of transplantable organs.
• The closeness of the hospital to your family and other support systems. Since recovery from transplant surgery is a long process, you may wish to choose a surgeon located near family and friends who can support you.
• Your comfort level with the surgeon and his or her team. In addition to your transplant surgery, you will also go to your surgeon for regular follow-up visits. It is important that you trust the surgeon and are able to discuss your symptoms and concerns with him or her both before and after your surgery.

Selecting a hospital

Choosing the correct hospital or transplant center for you is almost as important as choosing your surgeon. Since transplants are so complicated, there will be a team of health professionals involved in the procedure and in helping you adjust to life afterwards. You should consider the skills of the nurses, technicians, therapists, and others because they all will play a role in the success of your transplant.

You also should look carefully at each hospital's United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) area to see which is most likely to receive a matching donor heart, because donor organs are offered to transplant candidates based on the hospital's location.

Positive factors that you might want to consider in selecting a hospital are:

• A low average wait time for candidates receiving donor hearts.
• A short waiting list for donor hearts.
• A high number of transplants performed at the hospital.
• A high survival rate after transplant surgeries.
• Proximity to your family and other support systems.
• Your comfort level with the hospital and transplant team.

Any medical center that wishes to perform transplants of any organ must be accredited by UNOS. Because heart transplants are complicated and require a highly skilled set of medical professionals, they are not performed at every hospital. This means that you may need to move temporarily to be near a hospital that can perform your surgery.