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Heart transplantation
Educational only: videos on MedicalVideos.com are for general information and are not medical advice. Always consult your own doctor about your health.
Finding a donor heart can be difficult. The heart must be donated by someone who is brain-dead but is still on life support. The donor heart must be matched as closely as possible to your tissue type to reduce the chance that your body will reject it. You are put into a deep sleep with general anesthesia, and a cut is made through the breastbone. Your blood flows through a heart-lung bypass machine while the surgeon works on your heart. This machine does the work of your heart and lungs while they are stopped, and supplies your body with blood and oxygen. Your diseased heart is removed and the donor heart is stitched in place. The heart-lung machine is then disconnected. Blood flows through the transplanted heart, which takes over supplying your body with blood and oxygen. Tubes are inserted to drain air, fluid, and blood out of the chest for several days, and to allow the lungs to fully re-expand.
This video in 30 seconds
This video describes heart transplantation. It covers finding and matching a donor heart from someone who is brain-dead but still on life support, the operation under general anesthesia with a cut through the breastbone, use of a heart-lung bypass machine while the diseased heart is removed and the donor heart stitched in place, and drainage tubes left in the chest for several days afterward.
Key points
- Explains the donor heart must come from someone who is brain-dead but still on life support, matched closely to tissue type to reduce rejection risk
- Describes general anesthesia and a cut made through the breastbone
- Describes blood flowing through a heart-lung bypass machine that does the work of the heart and lungs during the operation
- Describes removal of the diseased heart and the donor heart being stitched in place, then taking over supplying the body with blood and oxygen
- Describes tubes inserted to drain air, fluid and blood from the chest for several days and allow the lungs to fully re-expand
Video Overview
This video presents “Heart transplantation” — Finding a donor heart can be difficult. The heart must be donated by someone who is brain-dead but is still on life support. The donor heart must be matched as closely as possible to your tissue type to reduce the chance that your body. Whether you are preparing for a procedure, studying the technique, or learning how a condition is assessed, the recording shows the process as it is performed in practice.
From our Cardiology collection: ECG interpretation, echocardiograms, angioplasty, stents and heart conditions explained by cardiologists. Browse all Cardiology videos →
Educational content only — not a substitute for professional medical advice.
Medical Videos
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Founded by Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim, MD, PhD — physician-scientist.
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