Heart Transplant Rejection

Overview

Heart transplantation is a surgical procedure done to replace a non-functional heart with a healthy and functional heart. This procedure is reserved and only done when there is no improvement in a patient with heart condition despite medications and surgeries. However, there are risks of undergoing this procedure. One of the primary risks is when the body's immune system tend to recognize the transplanted organ as a foreign body and releases antibodies to attack the new organ. The common signs and symptoms of heart transplant rejection are fever, breathing difficulties, irregular heartbeat, low blood pressure, reduced urination, and weakness. Despite this, the rejection may sometimes be identified without any symptoms or signs with thorough screenings done during regular check-ups. As a matter of fact, the first sign of rejection can be cardiac arrest. As a treatment to overcome the rejection, the patient is usually given a high dosage of anti-rejection or immunosuppressive medicine such as cyclosporine and prednisone.