Also known as: Enlarged heart muscle disease
Charlie is a young patient with severe ventricular scarring who was scheduled for a Dor procedure (ventricular reconstruction) but receives a donor heart transplant instead. His surgery is complicated by the donor heart being too large for his chest cavity, requiring an open chest overnight and subsequent sternal reconstruction.
Also known as: Schizoaffective disorder
Alex's mother experiences acute psychotic episodes with visual hallucinations when she forgets to take her medication. Alex cares for her and helps her through a particularly severe episode involving paranoid delusions.
Also known as: Heart stopped
During the heart transplant surgery, the donor heart goes into ventricular fibrillation and requires internal defibrillation to restore normal rhythm after rewarming.
Also known as: Donor heart too big for chest
The donor heart for Charlie's transplant is too large to fit in his chest cavity due to swelling. Surgeons perform sternal resection and leave the chest open overnight covered with sterile wrap, planning a delayed closure with muscle flap reconstruction.