How long do patients live after a heart transplant?

For those people who are fortunate enough to receive a heart transplant, the long-term outlook is now very good indeed. How long you live after a transplant depends on many factors, including age, general health, and response to the heart transplant.

Recent data suggest that the 1-year survival after transplant is 88%, about 75% are alive after 5 years, and over 50% are alive after 10 years. The average length of survival is over 9 years.

The quality of life is usually good, especially if the side effects of the immunosuppressant medications can be kept to a minimum.