Day of Transplant and Transplant Hospitalization
During the waiting period, your transplant team receives offers of hearts from Organ Procurement Organizations, and then relays that information to your transplant surgeon and cardiologist. If an organ is a good match for you, you will be contacted immediately.
You should not eat or drink anything from that time on, and you will be instructed to come to The Ohio State University Medical Center for admission to Ohio State’s Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital. You should always be within a two-hour drive of Columbus, due to tight time constraints during a transplant.
Once you are admitted, you will undergo multiple laboratory tests, receive an X-ray, and begin your immunosupression medications. You will then go to surgery, usually within a few hours of admission.
One team of OSU surgeons will travel to the donor hospital to recover the donor heart. If the heart is found to not be suitable for you, OSU may decline the heart, and you may be sent home. If the donor heart is found to be acceptable, the team will recover the organ and transport it back to Columbus.
At the same time, the recipient surgical team is preparing you for the heart’s arrival. Timing is critical to success of the transplant. The heart needs to be transplanted within four to six hours after donor recovery.
You will be in the operating room for approximately six hours, depending on individual circumstances.
Upon completion of the surgery, you will be taken to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and closely monitored for complications.
You will be on a ventilator, with multiple intravenous access devices and monitoring devices along with medications to support the heart. Usually, you will be removed from the ventilator and out of bed within 24-48 hours postoperation.
Transplant education is started within a few days of the surgery. You will learn how to administer your own medications as well as any postoperative restrictions.
The average length of stay for a heart transplant patient is seven to 14 days.
For more information, please view
After Your Transplant.