Reviving Hearts for Successful Transplants: A Solution to the Donor Shortage?
A new trial has shown that a method for "reanimating" organ donors' hearts works just as well as the standard approach to collecting hearts for transplantation. The method could increase the heart donor pool by an estimated 30%. The trial tested a perfusion system called Organ Care System Heart, made by TransMedics, which warms the blood that it pumps through the donor hearts. The study found that donation after circulatory death, or DCD, is an equally viable approach to heart transplants. The rate of serious adverse events was very low and similar in both groups, as assessed out to 30 days post-surgery.