Ex Vivo Donor Heart Perfusion using the TransMedics Organ Care System in Orthotopic Heart Transplant

To accommodate the growing demand for heart transplantation, there has recently been renewed interest in the use of ex vivo perfusion technology, which may expand the donor pool in two ways: donation after brain death (DBD) and donation after circulatory death (DCD). The TransMedics Organ Care System (TransMedics, Andover, MA) is the first commercially available, portable system that allows the beating donor heart to be maintained under near-physiologic, warm blood circulation (34°C) immediately after organ explant from a deceased donor. Here, these two uses of the TransMedics Organ Care System (DCD and DBD) are discussed.