This is a concise review of up-to-date concepts and techniques in the discipline of heart transplantation. It is a review and reference for practitioners managing patients with advanced heart disease, including patients with end-stage heart failure, mechanical circulatory support or transplant recipients. Heart failure is a major public health issue, with a prevalence of over 5.8 million in the USA, and over 23 million worldwide, and rising. The lifetime risk of developing heart failure is one in five.  Heart failure carries substantial morbidity and mortality, with 5-year mortality that rival those of many cancers.  As heart transplantation remains the best treatment option for patients with end stage heart failure, this primer will provide valuable information and management strategies for physicians caring for these patients.  Also, due to continued shortage in donor organs, heart transplantation is a limited resource - which further underscores the importance of appropriately evaluating patients for transplant candidacy and managing their pre, peri- and post-transplant care for maximum benefit and best outcomes.?

This handbook is an easy reference for those involved in the management of heart transplant.  While this compilation of best practices cannot address the complexity of the individual patients we care for on a daily basis, it will serve to help us ask the right questions, access the best evidence and ultimately make the best decisions for the patients involved.

Clinical Guide to Heart Transplantation provides a current review of the field of heart transplantation and how it has evolved into an established therapy for the treatment of end-stage heart failure.  With the advent of improved surgical techniques, the development of immunosuppressive drugs and the utilization of more sophisticated monitoring strategies and treatments for graft rejection, heart transplantation now offer patients an avenue to both improved survival and quality of life. 

With over 4000 heart transplants performed per year globally and with 1-year survival approaching 90%, this practical title assists those involved in the this most complex of procedures to establish best practice. It is therefore essential reading for all practitioners in this field, charged with making critical decisions in the management of patients, donor organs, and the transplant process itself in order to achieve the greatest benefit in the utilization of this often scarce resource.