An orthotopic heart transplant remains the gold standard treatment for patients with end-stage heart failure. Despite significant developments and the widespread use of durable mechanical circulation support, a small number of patients will be considered for a heart retransplant. In this video tutorial, we describe the strategy and technique for patients who have already received an orthotopic heart transplant and who undergo a cardiac retransplant with a modified bicaval anastomosis technique.

Today, heart transplantation remains the gold standard of treatment for patients with end-stage heart failure (HF). As the number of donors is limited and the risk of intervention is quite high, the key to achieving optimal outcomes and reducing the incidence of complications is the proper selection of patients who meet clearly defined criteria for inclusion in the waiting list for heart transplantation. This review presents the latest knowledge on indications and contraindications for inclusion recipients in the waiting list for heart transplantation, including the latest clinical guidelines of The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) published in 2016. Thus, the absolute indications are dependence on intravenous inotropic and mechanical circulatory support; inoperable heart diseases or a history of volume reducing operations; refractory angina or life-threatening refractory arrhythmias despite maximal drug therapy and/or surgical correction; reduction of maximum oxygen consumption up to <12-14 ml/kg/min when performing the maximum cardiopulmonary exercise test. While including patients in the waiting list for heart transplantation, it should be noted that the low left ventricular ejection fraction <30%, a history of documented NYHA class III-IV HF, low maximum oxygen consumption as the only criterion of terminal HF and poor prognosis for annual survival in HF calculated on prognostic scales are not sufficient indications. Absolute contraindications include a systemic disease with a life expectancy of less than 2 years and irreversible pulmonary hypertension. The current procedure for the distribution of recipients by urgency status for heart transplantation is presented according to the updated recommendations of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) published in 2018 which consists of 6 degrees, compared with the 1999 edition which contained 3 degrees.