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To become a transplant candidate, the patient has to meet certain criteria and undergo extensive evaluation. The physician would do laboratory tests to make sure that the recipient is a good match to the donor. The patient will undergo x-rays, CAT scans, pulmonary function tests. The patient, if a female, would have to be tested with Pap smears and gynecological evaluation. The patient would also need to be screened for psychosocial situations that would make transplant more difficult to bear for that patient. Extensive psychiatric evaluation is done to make sure that the patient can take the psychosocial stress that comes along with being a heart transplant recipient. It’s important to assess and address financial issues before the patient gets a transplant, such that there is no issues with being able to maintain the regimen after the transplant is completed. Once the patient is listed as an organ recipient, that patient would actually be put on a list of the united organ sharing database. Once an organ is available and matched, then the patient would be scheduled for transplant. Patients are matched in terms of their severity of illness, their size, age, blood profile in terms of match to the donor, et cetera. Once the patient is qualified and an organ is available, the transplant has to happen within four hours.
