T86.3: Heart-lung transplant failure and rejection

You have received a donor heart and a donor lung but they do not work properly.

When tissue is donated, the patient’s tissue and the donated tissue should be as similar to one another as possible. Otherwise the immune system may attack the donated tissue. For example, the immune system also fights altered body cells or disease pathogens. Therefore certain tissue characteristics are compared before a tissue donation. For example, one such characteristic of a tissue is the blood group.

You need lungs to breath. When we breathe in, oxygen enters the lungs and accumulates in the blood. This blood then flows to the heart. The heart then pumps the oxygen-rich blood throughout the body. All of the organs are supplied with oxygen as a result.

There can be various reasons if a donor heart and a donor lung do not function properly. For example, it may be that your immune system is fighting the donor heart or the donor lung. The organs can become damaged as a result. The organs may also not be properly supplied with blood.

You can then have various problems. You may not be able to breathe properly. Sometimes the heart beats irregularly. The body may also no longer be supplied with sufficient oxygen. You may then feel very weak and ill.