Abstract
A 47-year-old man was investigated in the heart transplantation unit of our hospital almost 21 years after he had undergone a heterotopic heart transplantation at the Harefield Hospital (England). This is probably the longest-living heterotopic heart transplantation patient ever. In June 1983, he received heart transplant for end-stage heart failure resulting from dilated cardiomyopathy. Nowadays, heterotopic heart transplantation is hardly performed but may be indicated when the patient has irreversible pulmonary hypertension or when the donor heart is believed to be too small to support the recipient’s circulation. This donor heart came from a 16-year-old boy, and a full heterotopic transplantation was performed with the donor pulmonary artery inserted into the recipient pulmonary artery. After a successful operation and some initial signs of rejection, this patient has been living a reasonably normal life. He was initially managed with triple-therapy immunosuppression; currently, he receives cyclosporine monotherapy. Since 1999, he has been known …
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