Heart recovery technique adapted for pediatric transplants
A donor heart recovery technique developed at Vanderbilt Health has been successfully adapted for children by pediatric heart transplant surgeons at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, potentially expanding access to lifesaving heart transplants for children.
Researchers at Vanderbilt Health have developed a heart recovery technique that has been adapted for pediatric transplants, potentially expanding access to lifesaving heart transplants for children. This technique, known as REUP (rapid recovery with extended ultraoxygenated preservation), was initially created for adult heart transplants, allowing for the safe recovery and transplantation of hearts donated after circulatory death (DCD).
In a recent New England Journal of Medicine article, surgeons reported on the successful recovery and transplantation of five donor hearts in children using this novel method. The children ranged in age from 2 days to 14 years, with an average wait time of just 20 days for transplantation. None of the donor hearts were discarded, and all recipients showed strong heart function after surgery, with no need for mechanical circulatory support, primary graft dysfunction, or rejection during the study period.
The REUP method has already helped expand the donor pool for adult heart transplantation, allowing for more patients to be transplanted, donor hearts to be recovered from greater distances, and excellent outcomes. Pediatric heart transplant surgeons at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt have been able to recover donor hearts across all pediatric age groups using this technique, including hearts that would have otherwise been discarded, creating new opportunities to shorten wait times and save more young lives.
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