Contact:
Joseph J. DiBartolomeo, Ph.D
(215) 707-4598
E-mail: [email protected]
Temple University School of Medicine
EMBARGOED UNTIL: Tuesday March 31, 1998, 10 a.m. Eastern Time
TEMPLE RESEARCHERS EXPAND THE NUMBER OF HEART TRANSPLANT DONORS
Findings of a multi-year heart transplantation study indicate that the heart donor pool can be expanded through the use of undersized hearts. Clinical results with 142 donor heart recipients followed over a four-year period were reported today at the American College of Cardiology Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia by Paul J. Mather, M.D., Associate Director Cardiomyopathy Center and Valluvan Jeevanandam, M.D., Surgical Director Heart Transplantation Program at Temple University School of Medicine.
"Based upon our surgical and post transplant management experience with using undersized hearts, the donor pool for transplants could be increased by at least 25%," indicates Dr. Mather. This study compared the functional capacity, hemodynamics and survival rates of 71 normal sized donor heart recipients with a group of 71 undersized donor heart recipients over a period of four years after heart transplantation. All patients were in the terminal stage of heart failure, with minimal chance of long-term survival without transplantation.
"Undersized donor hearts adapt to cardiovascular demands over time as evidenced by an increase in left ventricle heart mass and appropriate changes in oxygen consumption during exercise," says Valluvan Jeevanandam, M.D. In addition, post transplantation survival rates for patients who receive undersized hearts are similar to that for patients receiving normal sized hearts.
Based upon scientific registry data from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), there are currently about 3,945 patients waiting for a heart transplant. As the number of people waiting for a transplant increases, a major problem is the lack of sufficient numbers of donor hearts. Previous reports have suggested that as many as 30-50% of these heart failure patients could die while waiting for a transplant.
According to UNOS data from 1996, there was a significantly smaller percentage of low-weight donor hearts utilized for transplant compared to average-weight donor hearts. "One method to alleviate this organ shortage and save lives involves the use of undersized donor hearts for transplant," indicates Dr. Mather.
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