Physicians Oppose Heart Transplants

John A. Macoviak, MD, MBA, devoted his career to performing heart transplants and researching methods to address different cardiovascular problems. Among his areas of research, John Macoviak, MD, MBA, studied the effects of heart transplant complications in patients. Heart transplants are often dramatic in the hands of the media, expensive to do, expensive to maintain and complications can keep some patients in hospital for prolonged periods. These are some of the reasons why some physicians oppose this often politically charged high profile field which is often used for publicity which can go both ways for the hospital, up and down.. Life quality and survival has been increasingly good on average, but is still a challenge to achieve for some..

One complication that may arise after heart transplant surgery is rejection, which occurs when the patient’s body recognizes that the donor heart is not its own. The patient may experience no symptoms, but in some cases, the rejection results in hypotension, which can lead to lowered blood pressure, and irregular heartbeat..

To minimize the risk of rejection, the doctors overseeing the transplant compare the donor’s antigens that trigger the production of antibodies, to the antibodies in the patient’s blood. A negative cross match indicates a decreases the risk of rejection.

Another complication that may result from heart transplant surgery is malignancy, or the development of cancer. A patient who has undergone a heart transplant is at increased risk to develop cancer because certain medications administered post-surgery also lower the patient’s immune response. The probability that a patient will develop cancer increases over time following the transplant. To assess risk, patients should receive screenings for age-appropriate cancers, like colon, prostate, or breast cancer.