Medical Care in China

Heart transplantation
Treatment in China

Provide a clear and complete coordinated pathway from expert assessment to treatment and rehabilitation.

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Multi-organ transplantationcovers liver, kidney, lung, heart, and combined transplants.
Complex case assessmentprovides a comprehensive evaluation for end-stage and complex organ diseases.
Pediatric transplant supportcovers some complex cases such as pediatric living donor liver transplantation.
Postoperative long-term managementfocuses on rejection, infection, and transplant organ function.

Condition Guide

About Heart transplantation

Understand the condition, common triggers and treatment options that may require specialist assessment.

  Disease Introduction 

  1. Heart transplantation is the only radical surgical procedure for end-stage heart failure. Orthotopic heart transplantation is the primary procedure, but it also includes heterotopic heart transplantation and heart-lung transplantation. An allogeneic heart is implanted into the recipient's chest cavity to replace the irreversibly damaged autologous heart, restoring the heart's pumping and circulatory functions. It is suitable for end-stage cardiomyopathy, severe coronary artery disease, complex valvular heart disease, and refractory arrhythmic cardiomyopathy that cannot be reversed by medical interventions, interventional procedures, or ventricular assist devices. Only top-tier heart transplant centers in China can perform this procedure for critically ill patients.
  1. Core symptoms Persistent exertional dyspnea and shortness of breath at rest; refractory volume overload, systemic edema, hepatic congestion, and ascites; recurrent malignant arrhythmias and syncope; decreased cardiac output leading to tissue hypoperfusion, weakness, and near loss of exercise tolerance; in the end stage, cardiogenic shock and multiple organ hypoperfusion may occur, with circulatory collapse at any time.
  1. Pathological Mechanism: (1) Primary myocardial lesions cause extensive myocardial cell necrosis, myocardial fibrosis, ventricular remodeling, irreversible damage to ventricular systolic/diastolic function, and cardiac pump failure; insufficient cardiac output induces hypoperfusion of the whole body tissues, while increasing the pressure of systemic circulation and pulmonary circulation, resulting in secondary damage to multiple organs such as liver, kidney, and lung, forming a cardiogenic multi-organ interactive failure loop. (2) Transplantation-related pathology: Cold ischemia-reperfusion injury of the donor heart can induce primary graft failure (PGF); the recipient immune system recognizes the donor heart HLA antigen, resulting in acute cellular rejection and antibody-mediated rejection; long-term cardiac graft vascular disease (CAV), characterized by diffuse coronary intimal hyperplasia and progressive luminal stenosis, is the primary cause of long-term graft failure.

Cutting-edge high-precision diagnostic and treatment technologies

  1. Ischemia-free heart transplantation technology: The donor heart is continuously perfused at room temperature throughout the entire process of transplantation, eliminating cold ischemia-reperfusion injury, protecting the myocardium, and expanding the scope of peripheral donor hearts.
  2. Ventricular Assist Device (Artificial Heart) Bridging and Transplantation Technology: Implantation of a fully magnetically levitated artificial heart provides long-term circulatory support, buying time for critically ill heart failure patients waiting for a donor heart.
  3. ECMO/IABP mechanical circulatory support transplantation technology: temporary circulatory support before, during and after surgery, used for transplant transition in critically ill recipients with cardiogenic shock.
  4. Non-invasive rejection monitoring technology: donor-derived cell-free DNA and myocardial electrocardiogram monitoring reduce the frequency of routine endocardial biopsy and provide early warning of subclinical rejection.
  5. Extracorporeal mechanical perfusion repair technology for donor hearts: in vitro assessment and repair of marginal donor hearts to expand donor heart reserves.
  6. Intraoperative multimodal hemodynamic monitoring system: Real-time assessment of transesophageal ultrasound, pulmonary artery catheter, and myocardial perfusion, enabling precise regulation of extracorporeal circulation.

Care Overview

Heart transplantation Treatment in China

The medical team will develop a personalized protocol based on the pathology type, stage, genetic test, previous treatment history, and the patient's physical condition.

Leading Specialists

Trusted Expertise Across Leading Specialties

Lü Fanzhen

Chief Physician, Key Member of Lung Transplant Surgery Team

Organ Transplant

-Research areas : Lung transplant surgery, thoracoscopic lung transplantation; - Areas of expertise: Single/double lung transplantation surgery, perioperative critical care management after lung transplantation; - Diseases specializing in: end-stage bronchiectasis, pneumoconiosis, and late-stage lung damage from paraquat poisoning; - Academic Highlights & Core Values: Undertakes a large amount of clinical work in lung transplantation, deeply involved in optimizing the clinical process of ECMO-bridging lun

Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital (Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University) logo Affiliated Hospital Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital (Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University)
Yang Jiayin

Chief Physician, Doctoral Supervisor, Director of Liver Transplantation Center, Director of General Surgery, Director of Organ Transplantation Center, Director of the National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Transplantation Engineering and Transplantation Immunology

Organ Transplant

-Research areas : Adult DCD liver transplantation, liver transplantation in elderly recipients, multi-organ transplantation, transplant immunology, optimization of perioperative procedures for liver transplantation; safety studies of living donor liver transplantation; quality assessment and preservation of DCD donor livers. - Cutting-edge technologies: ABO incompatible liver transplantation, liver-kidney combined transplantation, transplantation programs for elderly critically ill recipients; pioneering

West China Hospital of Sichuan University logo Affiliated Hospital West China Hospital of Sichuan University
Yan Linan

Director of the Liver Transplant Center & Department of Liver Surgery, Professor, Doctoral Supervisor, Founder of the Discipline, First-Class Expert, Leading Figure in the Field of Liver Transplantation in my country

Organ Transplant

-Research areas : Basic and clinical aspects of liver transplantation, and the development of living donor liver transplantation technology systems. - Cutting-edge technology: A pioneer in adult living donor liver transplantation in mainland China, leading the implementation of more than 1,200 clinical liver transplants and achieving eight leading firsts in liver transplantation technology nationwide; he began performing pediatric living donor liver transplantation in 2001 and performed the first adult li

West China Hospital of Sichuan University logo Affiliated Hospital West China Hospital of Sichuan University
Xia Lei

Chief Physician, Doctoral Supervisor, Deputy Director of Liver Surgery

Organ Transplant

-Research areas : Adult liver transplantation, complex hepatobiliary surgery, combined liver and kidney transplantation; - Areas of expertise: Dual-donor liver transplantation, combined liver and kidney transplantation, and complex hepatobiliary tumor surgery; - Areas of expertise: End-stage cirrhosis, cirrhosis complicated with renal failure, and complex hepatobiliary malignancies; - Academic Highlights & Core Values: Responsible for the clinical system of multi-organ transplantation, handling complex ad

Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine logo Affiliated Hospital Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
Wan Ping

Associate Chief Physician, Liver Surgery Expert at Renji Hospital.

Organ Transplant

Research Areas : Pediatric liver transplantation, Kasai procedure for biliary atresia, and complex liver tumor resection, among other pediatric liver surgeries. Cutting-Edge Techniques: Proficient in the surgical treatment of pediatric liver diseases such as biliary atresia, inherited metabolic diseases, cholestasis, and hepatoblastoma, having treated over 1700 cases of various pediatric liver diseases and rare diseases; as a core member of the team, systematically conducting liver transplantation surgery

Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine logo Affiliated Hospital Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
Zhan Qingyuan

Chief Physician, Professor, Head of Respiratory Critical Care and ECMO

Organ Transplant

Research areas : perioperative extracorporeal life support during transplantation, ARDS, and post-transplant severe respiratory failure; Cutting-edge technologies: ECMO bridging lung transplantation and treatment of severe respiratory complications after transplantation; Areas of expertise: critical respiratory failure before lung transplantation and primary graft failure after transplantation; Academic highlights: Leading expert in domestic ECMO guidelines; Core value: Establishing standardized treatment

China-Japan Friendship Hospital logo Affiliated Hospital China-Japan Friendship Hospital

Patient Stories

See the Next Step Through Patient Journeys

Restarting the CASE 01
PATIENT JOURNEY

Restarting the "Life Purifier"—An Indonesian Youth's Kidney Miracle Patient records

Organ Transplant

Patient records Name: Adi Age: 28 Nationality: Indonesia Diagnosis: End-stage renal disease (IgA nephropathy) Treatment Hospital: Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Wuhan) Freed from the constraints of the dialysis machine, we found him a "matching" new life. Adi, a talented young photographer from Bandung, Indonesia, 28, had captured countless moving moments with his lens. Five years ago, however, he developed gross hematuria after a cold

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Breaking Free from the CASE 02
PATIENT JOURNEY

Breaking Free from the "Shackles of Breathing"—A Thai Elder's Heartfelt Words Continued in China

Organ Transplant

Patient records Name: Somchai Age: 65 Nationality: Thailand Diagnosis: End-stage idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) Treatment Hospital: China-Japan Friendship Hospital (National Center for Respiratory Medicine) When breathing becomes a luxury, we find him a "new leaf" of life. Somchai, a 65-year-old retired university professor from Chiang Mai, Thailand, was a gentle and refined man. However, at a time when he should have been enjoying his retirement, an "invisible shackle" choked him. He suffered from i

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Heart Transplant: A Transnational Relay of a CASE 03
PATIENT JOURNEY

Heart Transplant: A Transnational Relay of a "Chinese Heart"—An UAE Patient Finds a Solution for End-Stage Heart Failure in China

Organ Transplant

Patient records Name: Ahmed (pseudonym) Age: 38 Nationality: Dubai, United Arab Emirates Diagnosis: Dilated cardiomyopathy, end-stage heart failure, post-cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT-D) Treatment Hospital: Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Heart transplantation is the last hope for patients with end-stage heart failure. But when this "heart of hope" needs to be found across borders, patients face not only the complex rules of organ allocation,

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Pediatric Living Donor Liver Transplant: When CASE 04
PATIENT JOURNEY

Pediatric Living Donor Liver Transplant: When "Not Living Past One Year Old" Becomes a Prophecy—A Mongolian Mother's Journey of "Saving Her Son by Donating Part of Her Liver"

Organ TransplantHepatobiliaryPediatrics

Patient records Name: Batbayar (pseudonym) Age: 11 months Nationality: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Diagnosis: Congenital biliary atresia, decompensated biliary cirrhosis after Kasai procedure. Treatment Hospital: Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University Pediatric living donor liver transplantation is the crown jewel of organ transplantation. It tests not only surgical skills but also a healthcare system's comprehensive capabilities in donor safety, postoperative management, and long-term follow-u

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