Potential Suitability for Transplantation of Hearts From Human Non–Heart-Beating Donors: Data Review From the Gift of Life Donor Program

Ischemically Damaged Heart After Preservation by the Cavitary Two-layer Method as a Possible Donor in Rat Heart Transplantation

“…Serum LDH value after 4-hour reperfusion in Group 4a (2,519.3 Ϯ 238.5 IU/liter) was also lower than in Group 2a (5,426.0 Ϯ 509.9 IU/liter, p ϭ 0.029). For serum AST, no significant changes were detected in any of the groups (Figure 1a-c).…”

“…[1][2][3] Warm ischemic injury of the heart before and during procurement is a major factor, and strongly influences short-and long-term outcomes after transplantation 4 ; however, few studies have examined the effects of warm ischemia and subsequent preservation in heart transplantation. 5,6 Basic study on the preservation of an ischemically damaged heart is essential for using heart grafts from marginal donors or non-heart-beating donors. For such grafts, the prevention of further damage from additional cold storage during transportation is of critical importance for successful transplantation.…”

Early Reperfusion Hemodynamics Predict Recovery in Rat Hearts: A Potential Approach towards Evaluating Cardiac Grafts from Non-Heart-Beating Donors

“…However, many aspects including precise procurement and donor treatment protocols, definition of cardiac death and hands-off time, acceptability limits for warm ischemia, identification of protective interventions, as well as legal and ethical issues must be addressed before widespread adoption of cardiac transplantation from NHBDs is likely to occur. Importantly, given that waiting-list mortality remains excessive, approximately 17% in patients in the US [6], [24], approaches directed towards the use of hearts from NHBDs clearly warrant further investigation.…”

“…Nevertheless, recent case reports have successfully reconfirmed the feasibility of orthotopic transplantation of NHBDs’ hearts in adult and pediatric patients [4], [5]. As a matter of fact, it was recently estimated that if hearts from NHBDs were to be used for transplantation, the donor supply could increase up to 17% in adults [6], [7] and 42% in pediatric patients [8].…”

Donor Heart Utilization following Cardiopulmonary Arrest and Resuscitation: Influence of Donor Characteristics and Wait Times in Transplant Regions

“…Efforts to optimize management of potential heart donors have led to increased utilization of donor hearts [1], yet this increase falls far short of the existing demands on organs for transplantation [2]. New avenues that would increase available donor hearts have been explored, including donation after cardiac death [3], ex vivo organ resuscitation [4], and, importantly, extended donor selection criteria [5]. Of these extended criteria, cardiopulmonary arrest and resuscitated (CPR) organ donors have significantly increased the potential organ donor pool.…”