I know the why and how at the genetic level, but it just isn’t fair for the children, parents or families and friends that are affected by congenital heart disease. I also know that we have come along way with research, procedures and treatments but there are still plenty of babies born every day that pass while waiting for a heart transplant or die while fighting for their lives.

I would like to remind everyone about the importance of organ donation. you could be saving a very needy child’s life. It is a wonderful gift to leave behind after we are gone.

Post from: Blisstree

Organ Donation Is Imperative For Children With Congenital Heart Disease

Now these are the same patients that can’t understand why they had a heart attack at the ripe ol’ age of 28 and don’t understand why they can’t go out to the corner to have a smoke with a peripheral line inserted directly into their vein. Hello people???? Are you kidding me.

And then these very same patients are vomiting, shaking. sweating and crying for their mommies because they are starting withdrawal. Which by the way, is no fun at all! I can attest to that. I have seen it countless times and it is never pretty.

So instead of this cardiac nurse taking care of her sick and end stage diseased patients, she is stuck in the room with the big ol’ baby that is going through something that he brought on all by himself. These other patients didn’t ask to have cardiomyopathy and be on heart transplant lists and be fighting for their lives at 58 years old. They are sick and deserve my attention.

I know I took that oath and all, and I try to treat all my patients the same. But the drug abuse, nasty, verbally abusive, physically assaulting patients that are taking up one of our beds to detox after inducing a heart attack due to partying make it darn hard, you know?

What do you think about this? Would you be upset if your loved one was sharing a room with someone that was throwing things, cursing and hitting their nurses because they didn’t want to be in the hospital after coming in via 911 and cardiac arrest? Would you feel safe leaving them there in that room? Just something to think about. Sometimes us nurses have to let it out, or else we would cry!

Post from: Blisstree

Do You Want To Know What Bothers A Cardiac Nurse?

Protected by its own nutrients and blood supply, a beating heart supported by an investigational organ preservation device was successfully transplanted into a 47-year-old man with congestive heart failure and pulmonary hypertension on Sunday, April 8.

Very cool stuff! This pioneering surgery took place at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine using a heart that was maintained in a beating state on the investigational Organ Care System (OCS) for two hours and 45 minutes.

The recipient was discharged from the hospital on April 30th in good shape. The OCS keeps organs in their physiological, beating state during transportation to the recipient’s hospital.

Potential for the Organ Care System to aid in the transplant process is promising. The risk of ischemic complications will be greatly reduced as well as rejection.

Cold ischemic storage of organs can lead to substantial organ damage in isolated cases. The faster the organ reaches the patient, the better the chance for a successful transplantation. International data shows that the one year survival of heart transplant is directly and significantly related to the length of time an organ is without blood between the donor and the recipient surgeries. If the time window between removal and implantation is too long, the organ will become unusable. The maximum storage time for a heart is presently four to six hours.

Only a third of patients waiting for a transplant will actually receive their gift. And when you do the math, about 20 people die each day awaiting their organ. Will the OCS be a welcome alternative to the conventional transport method of an organ? Do you think that the amount of rejected transplants will be considerably decreased? I’m excited!

via Science Daily

Post from: Blisstree

Organ Care System Allows Beating Heart To Be Transplanted Into Recipient

This past Monday, officials at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in California announced that Mr. Iwuchukwu received his second chance on life. He received his heart in March, but the transplanted organ had been down this road before. You see, this particular heart had already been donated to someone who died of non cardiac complications.

There have been previous cases of patients receiving used hearts, but it’s considered uncommon, said Dr. J. David Vega of Emory University Hospital, who chairs the thoracic organ transplant committee of the United Network for Organ Sharing.

How bizarre? A reused organ transplant is not something you encounter on a daily basis, heck even yearly basis.

Few recipients receive a heart that had been previously transplanted mainly because it increases the risk of rejection by the body.

A “pre- owned” heart can also have lessened muscle function. But if you had the decision to make, would you say that a recirculated heart donation is better than the alternative?

via Comcast

Ceders Sinai

Post from: Blisstree

Used Heart Transplant Gives Second Chance On Life

After CPR by his father, being taken via 911 to the closest hospital and then airlifted to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, life saving decisions had to be made.

Doctors determined his heart had failed and diagnosed the problem as dilated cardiomyopathy. They suspected a virus that Joseph contracted a year ago had caused his immune system to attack and destroy his heart muscle. Gradually, his heart grew bigger and weaker until it finally stopped.

Joseph was put on a standard heart-lung machine, which is not used but for a couple of days to sustain life. There are no ventricular assist devices for children, but there was one pump that could save the young boys life.

The German built pump called the Berlin Heart, which is specifically designed to keep children alive while awaiting a transplant. Although not approved in the United States, it is being used in Europe. After many days of paperwork to file for a “compassionate release” by the FDA, the Berlin Heart was flown from Germany to Charleston.

The Berlin Heart allowed Joseph to grow stronger until nine days later, when he received the heart transplant he needed.

Technology blows my mind! Thank goodness for this cutting edge pump, it saved a 5 year old’s life.

via ABC News

Hsien Hsien Lei PhD

Post from: Blisstree

The German-Built Berlin Heart Saves A US-Born 5 Year Old Boy’s Life