Who Gets The Heart? SUBTITLE

Heart transplants Worldwide, about 3,500 heart transplants are performed annually. The majority of these are performed in the United States (over 2,000 per year). There is an 88% survival rate. The oldest living recipient is 71 and received his transplant in 1982. The average recipient will live an additional 15 years after transplant. Transplant recipients have done Ironman competitions, been professional golfers, climbed mountains and returned to productive lives.

For this exercise: You are members of the heart transplant surgery team at a university hospital. At the moment, you have five patients who desperately need a transplant if they are to have any chance of living All five patients live near this university hospital and are classified as “critically ill,” and could die at any time. You have just received news that the heart of a 16 year old boy who was killed in an automobile accident has become available for transplantation.

1. Listen carefully to the information about each patient. Read and determine: 1. Listen carefully to the information about each patient.

2. Discuss reasons each should receive the heart.

3. Decide which patient should get the heart.

4. Report to the class your decision and your reasoning.

Considerations The age and sex of the donor have no relationship to the age and sex of the recipient.

Considerations In other words, the heart of the 16 year old would work well in a 50-year-old woman.

1. Nedda Appiah, female, age 57 Mrs. Appiah, a renowned poet and novelist from Nigeria, received the 2007 Nobel Prize for literature. An inspiration throughout the developing world because of her anti-colonialist writings, Mrs. Appiah has been confined to bed for the past five months with steadily deteriorating health. (Married: four children between the ages of 30 and 37)

2. Soohan Kim, male, age 12 Soohan, a junior high school student from South Korea, was born with a congenital heart defect. Doctors wanted to wait until he was a teenager to replace his heart, but his condition has worsened dramatically. He is being kept alive on a heart-lung machine. (Unmarried, no children)

3. Alicia Page, female, age 27 Ms. Page’s heart problems, though recent, seem to have a genetic basis because her twin sister is similarly affected. Although Ms. Page is a promising Ph.D. student in biochemistry at Georgetown University, her failing heart and kidneys have caused her to drop out of school temporarily. (Unmarried, no children)

4. Martha Rosales, female, age 34 Ms. Rosales’ heart problems originated from a bout she had with scarlet fever, a serious childhood disease, while growing up in the slums of New York. Unemployed and on welfare, Ms. Rosales raised money for her operation through the contributions of people in her neighborhood. (Never married, four children aged 8, 6, 5 and 1)

5. Peter Jacobsen, male, age 43 Mr. Jacobsen is considered the leading scientist in the world in the area of bacteriological diseases, Mr. Jacobsen has already had one heart transplant operation. Since his body rejected that heart three weeks ago, Mr. Jacobsen has been kept alive by an artificial heart. His family has a history of heart disease. His father died from a heart attack at age 39. (Never married, no children)

Patient Summary Pt. Name Picture Background Sex Age Family 1 Nedda Appiah Nigerian poet and novelist. Nobel Prize winner. Confined to bed for past five months. Health deteriorating. Female 57 Married; four grown children 2 Soohan Kim South Korean junior high student. Congenital heart defect. Early to transplant, but condition deteriorating. On heart-lung machine. Male 12 Unmarried; no children 3 Alicia Page Genetic basis for heart condition. Promising PhD biochemistry student. Failing heart and kidneys. Temporarily dropped out of Georgetown University. 27 4 Martha Rosales Heart problems due to childhood scarlet fever. Unemployed and on welfare. Raised cost of transplant from neighborhood donations 34 Never married; four children from 1 to 8 5 Peter Jacobsen Family history of heart disease. Father died of heart attack at 39. Leading scientist in bacteriological diseases. Unsuccessful previous transplant. Currently on artificial heart 43 Never married; no children

Make your list now

Discussion You are a “doctor.” After reading the information on each patient, verbally (in English) compare your decisions with those of the “other doctors” (classmates) in your group. Explain and defend your opinions. Listen carefully to your fellow “doctors’” opinions, but do not be afraid to disagree with those opinions. Try to reach a group consensus on the best solution to the problem. One person in the group will report the group’s decision. Tell who will get the heart and why.

Reports

Additional Questions When you die, would you be willing to donate your organs to a person who needs them (assume China has this type of donor agency)? Explain. What do you think about cross-species transplants, such as putting a baboon heart in a person? How do you think you would feel if you received the heart of another person? How would it feel to have another person’s heart in your chest? 4. When do you think a person is dead and, therefore, capable of having his organs given to another—when his brain has no more activity or when his heart stops beating?