Fascinating images and EKG from the NEJM of a patient who had a heart transplant, but the native heart was left in:
A 64-year-old man presented with progressive shortness of breath and exercise intolerance due to end-stage ischemic cardiomyopathy. Since he remained severely symptomatic despite maximal medical therapy, he underwent a heterotopic cardiac transplantation. Because of the presence of severe pulmonary hypertension, the recipient’s native heart (N) was left in place and the allograft was implanted in the right chest. The native heart maintains right circulation in spite of chronic pulmonary hypertension, while the heterotopic donor heart (D) functions as a biologic left ventricular assist device. The post-transplantation electrocardiogram shows two QRS complexes with different axes (Panel A). The allograft can be seen clearly in the right chest on both the radiograph (Panel B) and the computed tomographic scan (Panel C) of the chest.
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