New horizons: infant cardiac transplantation

Cardiac transplantation has become firmly established as a modality of therapy for end-stage heart disease. Application of this procedure to the neonatal and infant age group is a relatively recent innovation. In this article we describe nursing experience with neonates and infants under 6 months of age who have undergone cardiac transplantation at one university-affiliated medical center. Preparation for infant cardiac transplantation, donor and recipient selection criteria, donor resources, and the transplant process are discussed. Issues in postoperative management are reviewed.