The Annals of thoracic surgery | 2019
Direct procurement of donor heart with normothermic regional perfusion of abdominal organs.
Abstract
PURPOSE\nTo evaluate if direct procurement of heart is possible in combination with normothermic regional perfusion of abdominal organs in donors after circulatory death.\n\n\nDESCRIPTION\nA donation after circulatory death pathway was utilized for a 41-year-old female following an irreversible brain injury. After meeting criteria for the organ donation, heart was retrieved and re-animated on ex-situ perfusion system while abdominal organs were perfused using normothermic regional perfusion.\n\n\nEVALUATION\nAll the donated organs and their recipients had excellent short-term outcome.\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\nWe demonstrated a successful combination of direct procurement of the heart and normothermic regional perfusion of the abdominal organs.