Traditionally, surgeons have been capable of perform heart transplants using organs from individuals on life support, even in the event that they have been declared brain dead. The center never stops beating throughout the transplant process.

But now, researchers have achieved a breakthrough during which non-beating hearts might be transplanted too with the assistance of a tool named “heart-in-a-box,” which “reanimates” the organ.

With the assistance of the device, doctors can revive and evaluate donor hearts which have stopped beating, determining their suitability for transplantation.

The findings of the study was published in Latest England Journal of Medicine.

“For the longest time,” Dr. Jacob Schroder, who led the guts transplant program at Duke University, and authored the study, explained, “we did not have the methods to preserve and reanimate the guts.”

Within the recent trial conducted at 15 transplant centers in the US, doctors found that the brand new approach was at par with traditional heart transplants. Out of 80 patients who got a heart from someone whose heart had stopped, but was brought back to life, 94% were still alive after six months. As compared, 90% of 86 patients who received hearts from individuals who were brain-dead survived for a similar period.

In line with the study, the brand new breakthrough can expand the pool of heart donors. The tactic called donation after circulatory death (DCD) could make more donor hearts available, possibly increasing the provision by about 30%.

“That is still not enough,” Schroder told UPI. “But I’d say that is the largest thing to occur in heart transplantation since heart transplantation.”

What’s a DCD heart transplant?

DCD also stands for “donation after the guts stops beating.” On this process, the guts is taken from a donor, who has experienced a serious injury, but doesn’t meet the strict criteria to be declared brain dead. As an alternative, they die as a result of “circulatory death” after the family chooses to remove life support.

Doctors have been doing DCD transplants with organs just like the kidneys, liver, and lungs. These organs can handle an absence of oxygen after the guts stops. Nevertheless, this was not the case with the guts till now.

A latest study has detailed how doctors were capable of safely transplant hearts and lungs from hepatitis C-infected deceased donors to patients. In picture: Israeli surgeons prepare a medical patch to cover a hole in Abdullah Siam’s heart during his operation on the Wolfson Medical Center Jan. 29, 2009 in Tel Aviv, Israel.
David Silverman/Getty Images

Published by Medicaldaily.com