'Dead' Hearts Resuscitated, Transplanted Into Living Patients With Groundbreaking New Technology

A medical team successfully transplanted hearts that had already stopped beating into adult human patients for the first time using new organ preservation technology.

All of the patients who received the groundbreaking transplants, performed by the St. Vincent's Hospital Heart Transplant team, are reported to be recovering well, TransMedics reported. The OCS^TM Heart technology represents a "pivotal new milestone" in medical technology.

The hearts were retrieved from donors after they had already gone through circulatory death (DCD). They were then resuscitated to a normal beating state outside of the human body. TransMedics OCS^TM Heart technology is now considered the only device that can keep donor organs in a functioning state outside of the body until they are transplanted into their designated recipients.

Most of today's transplant organs are preserved using cold ischemic storage (placing organs on ice), which still allows for significant deterioration. The method also does not allow for resuscitation or assessment of the organ while it is being transported; because of this it is estimated between 60 and 65 percent of donor hearts cannot be transplanted once they reach the recipient.

"The OCS^TM Heart system was paramount to the success of this clinical milestone in heart transplantation as it enabled us to fully assess the donor heart function and metabolic state before transplantation, said Dr. Kumud Dhital, Prof. of Cardiothoracic Surgery at St. Vincent's Hospital and the lead surgeon who performed the DCD heart transplants," said Dr. Kumud Dhital, Prof. of Cardiothoracic Surgery at St. Vincent's Hospital and the lead surgeon who performed the DCD heart transplants.

This new technology could significantly increase the pool of potential organ donors, saving the lives of more patients suffering from end-stage heart failure.

The researchers are in the process of conducting four trials that are testing the technology on hearts, lungs and livers in the U.S. They hope the OCS^TM technology will hit major markets as early as 2015.