Transforming lives for patients in need of a life-saving heart transplant
Transform the lives of people like Max and donate to Heart Research UK.
Heart Research UK has played an important role in the history of heart transplants in the UK; we funded six of the first eight successful UK heart transplants. Since then, this breakthrough has saved thousands of lives. Even now, there is still no better way for us to treat people with severe heart failure.
We haven’t stopped there.
Keep reading to find out more about how we are improving the lives of people who need heart transplants.
Heart transplants in the UK
Max’s Story, how a heart transplant saved my life
This is Max. He had a heart transplant at just 15. Read his story and watch his interview where he answers your questions about what it’s like to have a heart transplant.
I was diagnosed with Becker muscular dystrophy in my early teens. Becker’s causes muscle weakness and in my case, this included my heart. I was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, which is a disease of the heart muscle, meaning it can’t pump blood around the body as well as it should. I was put on medication and had regular appointments but they couldn’t reduce it.
I knew at some time in the future I may have to face the possibility of a heart transplant, but I put this to the back of my mind.
When I was 15, I was told that I would have to have a transplant within five or six years but later that year, just before my GCSE’s, I suddenly became very ill. Over and over again I was told it’s a bad flu and nothing to worry about.
I eventually ended up in A&E and was given some medication and told to come back in the morning if I wasn’t feeling better. While I was there they did some more tests, within about five minutes I was surrounded by around 10 doctors. My heart was failing and my body was shutting down.
I was rushed off to intensive care with a failing heart. I eventually ended up at Royal Papworth Hospital. By that stage, I had multiple organ failure and very little time to live. I was placed on an artificial heart to help pump blood around my body. As my organs recovered, I was put on the waiting list for a heart transplant. I was extremely fortunate as I only had to wait a few weeks before the news came that a donor had been found.
At a time of intense sorrow and pain, the family of my donor made the wonderful decision to honour the wishes of their loved one to be an organ donor. This decision enabled me to carry on with my life.
I’m told the surgery went very well, it was over in nine hours and they were amazed how quickly I woke up. I sat in hospital for about a month just watching daytime TV but I was so grateful to be doing okay.
It’s eight years now since my transplant. I still go to Papworth every six months for a check-up. I have to take medication every day but I’m on the lowest amount of any patient there. I graduated from university in 2018, and I’m now a graphic designer. It’s all down to people like you. Without research, I might not be here.
I feel so lucky, as there were people at Papworth who had been there long before I arrived, and were still waiting when I left. It just shows how important research is and why we need to support it even more, to help people like me, and those other people at Papworth, to benefit from life-saving breakthroughs.
Education
Our Heart Research UK Masterclasses mean more surgeons can perform life-saving heart transplants.
In this video course director Mr Marius Berman, Consultant Cardiothoracic and Transplant Surgeon at Royal Papworth Hospital answers questions on heart transplants and the Heart Research UK Masterclass.
Heart Research UK started running unique Masterclasses in 2012. Masterclasses give surgeons, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and other health professionals the opportunity to gain new skills, knowledge and hands-on experience from leading experts in the field, so that more heart patients across the UK can benefit.
Heart transplantation is an area of surgery not encountered by a lot of surgeons. So, in December 2020 we ran a Masterclass to help senior trainees and junior consultants in cardiac surgery master traditional methods, and practice the newest and safest techniques.
Covid-19 restrictions meant we had to adapt. For the first time, the first part of the Masterclass was an interactive, online live-streamed demonstration. This will be followed by a hands-on practical session later this year once restrictions allow. In this second session surgeons will learn about and practice surgical techniques in transplantation, under the supervision of the expert faculty.
Research
An exciting research project could mean that more hearts can be transplanted.
Donations from our wonderful supporters helped to support a recent research project at Royal Papworth Hospital, the place where our first UK heart transplants took place more than 40 years ago. The researchers were testing a new way to restore the function of donor hearts that would otherwise be rejected by transplant teams.
Steven Tsui (middle right) and his team who worked on this project
They tested a way of resting the heart by supporting the circulation of the donor, and then minimising damage to the heart by providing it with a continuous supply of oxygen and nutrients during transportation. This promising research showed that after using this method, the donor hearts beat more strongly and were less likely to be injured.
These exciting findings may lead to better use of valuable donor hearts and give more patients who are dying from severe heart failure the chance of a life-saving heart transplant. Imagine being able to use just one more of those hearts. For the 340 people on the waiting list for a heart transplant, this research is a vital breakthrough, and we hope it will save lives in the future.
