Mark Macleod-Smith. Photo: Angela Wylie
A new method to preserve donor hearts has tripled the amount of time they can be kept alive outside the body, providing hope that lives will be saved by organs previously deemed unsuitable for transplant.
The Alfred hospital’s head of cardiothoracic surgical research, Frank Rosenfeldt, has pioneered the approach, which uses a portable device to perfuse a solution of oxygen and nutrients into hearts removed from a deceased donor.
Waste is also flushed out of the heart to mimic processes in the body.
The device used to keep donor hearts alive. Photo: Supplied
Researchers found the method expands the time that hearts can be kept outside the body before being successfully transplanted in large animals.