Organ Care System for Heart Procurement and Strategies to Reduce Primary Graft Failure After Heart Transplant

Abstract

Primary graft failure is a rare, but often fatal complication of heart transplantation. Although exact mechanism of primary graft failure has yet to be elucidated, prolonged ischemia time is one of the risk factors of early dysfunction of the donor heart. Organ Care System is the only device available for ex vivo perfusion of human donor hearts in a warm beating state. In this article, we provide step-by-step instructions of its use.