Department of Heart Transplantation

Doc. MUDr. Eva Gonsalvesová, CSc., Consultant of the Department of Heart Transplantation
Miriam Maasová, Head nurse of the Department of Heart Transplantation

DHTx is the managing centre of the heart transplantation program within Slovakia. Preparations of the heart transplantation (HTx) program started in 1994. The first successful HTx was performed in 1998 (21.3.1998). HTx program is carried out in direct cooperation with the clinical ward and other highly specialized clinics and departments of NICVD. The main goals of DHTx are:

• comprehensive management of patients with advanced heart failure and selection of appropriate HTx candidates
• post-operative follow-up of patients, whose circulation was stabilized in department of acute and intensive medicine
• long-term care of post HTx patients that is required life long - focused particularly in the diagnosis and treatment of acute graft rejection and cardiac diseases (graft dysfunction, vascular disease of graft, valvular diseases, arterial hypertension) as well as further concomitant extracardiac diseases (nephropathy, hyperlipoproteinemia, infections, cancer)
• consultations in immunosuppressant management, antimicrobial prevention and therapy of HTx patients
• centralized listing of patients on HTx waiting list
• centralized listing of all post HTx patients within the Slovakia
• systematic theoretical preparation for solving specific problems
• contacting and coordination of activities with organ procurement centers and National center for organ transplantation
• cooperation with scientific societies (Society of Transplantation of Slovak Medical Association and working group of HTx of Slovak Society of Cardiology), and in undergraduate as well as postgraduate education
• education of patients and their social environment about the HTx program
• scientific research in the field of heart failure and HTx
• cooperation with other transplant centers abroad