The Heart Biopsy

What is a Heart Biopsy?

The heart biopsy is a procedure performed under local anastisia and in transplant recipients is performed when searching for possible rejection.

What does the procedure involve- is it painful?

Firstly the biopsy procedure isn’t painful, below is a step-by-step guide to what’s involved.

1.    You are taken down to theatre, there are three members of the medical team involved, (A, The Surgeon or doctor, B, The E.C.G. Technician C, The radiography operator)

2.    You are required to lie on your back with your head towards the left hand side.

3.    You are then given a small injection into your neck.

4.    The surgeon then makes a small incision and threads a small wire into the neck and down the main artery to the heart.

5.    He then uses the end of the wire to remove around four small pieces of the heart.

6.    He then removes the small wire and then presses on the small wound for around 1-2 minutes. The procedure is then finished.

7.    The biopsy procedure overall takes around 15-20 minutes and results are usually ready within 24hours; hopefully there’s no rejection.

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