Protection during heart transplantation

Abstract

Heart transplantation is now the best treatment for patients with severe and refractory end-stage cardiac failure (American Heart Association stage D) (Hunt et al. 2005). It improves both patient survival and quality of life. However, this therapy is threatened by the increasing scarcity of suitable human donor hearts. In 1995, 4,399 heart transplants were reported worldwide to ISHLT (Taylor et al.) Over a 10-year period, this number has fallen by 30% to 3,095. The fall in the UK has been more dramatic, reducing by 74% in the last 10 years (393 in 1997 to 101 on 2007) (UK Transplant activity report), and numbers are expected to continue to decrease. © 2011 Springer-Verlag/Wien.