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Chapter 2
•
Cardiovascular Care
Intravascular Stents
An intravascular stent may be used to hold the walls of a vessel open. Some stents are coated with a drug
that is slowly released to inhibit further aggregation of fibrin or clots.
S T E N T D E L I V E R E D S T E N T E X P A N D E D S T E N T I N P L A C E
Heart Transplantation Surgery
The illustrations below outline the process of removing the donor heart and transplanting it into the recipient.
THE DONOR’S HEART
The donor’s heart is removed
after the surgeon cuts along these
dissection lines.
ANT E R I OR
V I EW
THE RECIPIENT’S HEART
Before it can be removed, the
recipient’s heart is resected along
these lines.
THE TRANSPLANTED HEART
The transplanted heart is sutured in
place within the recipient.
Heart Transplantation
With heart transplantation, a
patient’s failing heart is replaced with
a donor heart. Used to treat end-
stage cardiac disease in patients who
have poor quality of life and are not
expected to survive for more than 6
to 12 months, heart transplantation
does not provide a cure.
Patients who receive donor hearts
must be treated for rejection with
monoclonal antibodies and potent
immunosuppressants that can
increase the risk of life-threatening
infection.