Fox News reported here on a San Diego man who received a rare heterotropic heart transplant. Tyson Smith was suffering from an enlarged heart and when his operation day for a heart transplant he was given the option for this rare procedure. Post operation, Smith had two beating hearts his new heart placed on the right side of his own heart with their atrium's attached so that blood flowed from his heart into the new heart and then to the body.
Smith is reportedly doing well after his procedure and claims to be gettng stronger every day. His options were a standard hear transplant which could have taken months or opt for the "piggy-back" procedure like he did. Though the procedure is not a new discovery it is a rare enough that unless done just right the body will reject the heart. Since the heart was accepted by his body and his prognosis is good, it is curious to think about the possibilities of this procedure to make heart transplants more effective and let the body gradually adapt to the new organ versus it being hit or miss.
I never heard of this procedure where people have a transplant and have two hearts so this is news to me. I think it is interesting and I wonder what the benefits and possible disadvantages of having these two organs. Also, if this would be a more common process in the future than just having a transplant and ending up with one heart.
ReplyDeleteWow this is really different I have never heard of a patient having to get two hearts for a heart transplant. It makes me wonder why the patient had to get two instead of just one and if it's common in other patients. Also, it would be interesting to see what it looks like with two hearts beating and how it would feel maybe different.
ReplyDelete