Heart Transplant

Treatment in Arizona

Mayo Clinic in Arizona was approved for heart transplantation by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) on Sept. 26, 2005, and officially opened its program at that time. The first heart transplant was performed on Oct. 19, 2005, and the second transplant followed on Oct. 29.

The Mayo Clinic Heart Transplant Program represents "one door" of Mayo's three-site system (Arizona, Jacksonville and Minnesota) and thus has the advantage for patients of collaboration among transplant experts at all three locations. Collectively, Mayo Clinic performs more solid organ transplants than any other medical entity in the U.S.

Patients are considered for heart transplantation when the function of the heart cannot be significantly improved by either medical therapy or other surgeries.

Heart transplantation is not a cure, but a successful outcome can greatly enhance the patient's quality of life. Availability of hearts for transplantation is dependent on how sick the patient is, blood type, body size and availability of organs.

The decision to place a person on the waiting list for a heart transplant is made by a selection committee comprised by all the members of the transplant team. In some cases, if a patient is too sick to wait for a heart, a ventricular assist device (VAD) will be surgically implanted to do the work of the heart muscle until a suitable donor heart becomes available.

Building on a multidisciplinary team practice and an existing transplant program of excellence for liver, kidney and pancreas transplant, the heart transplant program at Mayo Clinic in Arizona expands the availability of transplant services in the southwestern United states.

Treatment Team

This treatment may involve specialists in the Heart Failure and Transplantation Program in the Department of Transplantation.

Appointments

For appointments or more information, call the Central Appointment Office at (800) 446-2279 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mountain time Monday through Friday, or complete an online appointment request form.

Housing

In many cases, transplant recipients need to stay close to the hospital for a time following transplantation. Housing information can be obtained from the transplant social worker during evaluation.