This is too cool.

‘Dead’ hearts transplanted into living patients in world first


Breakthrough by Australian surgeons at St Vincent’s hospital could save the lives of 30% more heart transplant patients

Australian surgeons have successfully transplanted “dead” hearts into patients for the first time – a groundbreaking procedure with the potential to significantly boost the supply of donor organs.

The number of donor hearts has been limited in the past by the fact that they have had to be taken from brain-dead patients while the organ is still beating. But a team at St Vincent’s hospital heart lung transplant unit in Sydney announced on Friday that they had performed three transplants with donor hearts that had stopped beating for 20 minutes. Two of the patients who received the transplant have recovered well, while the third, who only undertook the procedure recently, remains in intensive care.

Cardiologist and unit director Peter MacDonald said the donor hearts were housed in a portable console dubbed a “heart in a box” and submerged in a ground-breaking preservation solution jointly developed by the hospital and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. They were then connected to a sterile circuit where they were kept beating and warm.

Cardiothoracic surgeon Kumud Dhital, who performed the transplants using hearts donated after circulatory death, said he “kicked the air” when the first surgery was successful.

“The incredible development of the preservation solution with this technology of being able to preserve the heart, resuscitate it and to assess the function of the heart has made this possible,” he told a press conference.

The team of researchers said the success heralded a “paradigm shift” that could save the lives of 30% more heart transplant patients by increasing the supply of suitable donors.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014 ... g-patients

very cool.