Heart Transplant

Heart Transplantation

We have the medical expertise and technology to handle even the most complex cases.

In a heart transplant, a patient's diseased heart is replaced with a healthy donor heart.

If your child's heart is failing and cannot be fixed by medicine, catheterization procedures or surgery, then a heart transplant may be needed. Heart failure occurs when the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body's needs.

A heart transplant is a treatment reserved for patients with complex congenital heart disease or cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is a disorder of the heart muscle that prevents it from squeezing properly.

If your child needs a heart transplant, Children's is the best place to be.

What needs to happen before a transplant can be done?

There are several steps to go through before a transplant operation. Many tests are performed to see if your child is eligible for a heart transplant.

If he is eligible, his name will be placed on a waiting list with the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the group responsible for distributing organs in the United States.

The waiting time can vary from days to months, depending on your child's blood type, his degree of sickness and the availability of a donor match. Once your child is on the waiting list, your family will receive a pager so you can be notified immediately when a heart becomes available.

The wait for word on a donor heart can be a very stressful time. Our social worker can put you in touch with other families who have gone through the process of a heart transplant.

The Child Life Department at Seattle Children's teaches coping strategies and uses medical play to help children understand what is happening to them.

What's special about the experience at Children's?

We have the medical expertise and technology to handle even the most complex cases. Children's heart transplant program was established in 1994 and we now perform two to five heart transplants a year.

We performed a heart transplant on a baby less than 2 weeks old, the youngest infant to have a heart transplant in the Pacific Northwest.

Our comprehensive approach to patient care and our affiliation with the University of Washington help ensure that our patients receive the best possible treatment for heart failure.

Who's on the team?

Interim Division Chief of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery and Heart Center Co-Director Dr. Lester Permut has been a member of the heart surgery team since 2002.

Medical Director of Cardiac Transplant and Heart Failure Dr. Yuk Law joined the team in 2006. Our team is very experienced in the surgical care and medical management of the pediatric heart transplant patient.

The transplant team at Children's includes pediatric cardiac surgeons, pediatric cardiac anesthesiologists, fellows, cardiac nurses, cardiac nurse practitioners and cardiopulmonary perfusionists, who operate the heart-lung machine (also called the bypass machine).

Learn More

For more information about Children's heart transplant program, please visit the heart pages of our Transplant section.