The lives of more than 200 people – including 15 children – have been saved thanks to a pioneering way of obtaining donor hearts.
The technique, which involves restarting the organ in a machine up to half an hour after it has stopped in the donor, has increased the numbers receiving an NHS transplant annually by more than a quarter.
Leading heart surgeon Marius Berman, of Royal Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, and NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), last night said: ‘Our national pilot has led to a 28 per cent increase in heart transplants taking place across the UK. But it has the potential to have an even bigger impact.’
A mother who now hopes to see her daughters marry and a young man who enjoys extreme sports are among those to have benefited.
Usually, hearts are taken from donors who are certified brain dead while on life support in intensive care.
A new technique, which involves restarting a heart in a machine up to half an hour after it has stopped in the donor, has increased the numbers receiving an NHS transplant annually by more than a quarter
Life changer: Extreme sports fan Tom Shing, who had his operation in 2015, said he would not be alive today if not for the new technique
These are called ‘donation after brain death’ (DBD) or ‘beating heart’ donors.
About 160 people in Britain – a fifth of them children – benefit from these transplants every year.
Yet, tragically, such is the shortage of donor hearts that up to one in five who need a replacement die before they receive one.
However, since 2015, a new method called ‘heart transplant donation after circulatory death’ (DCD) has expanded the pool of possible donors to those who die from a wider range of causes.
Before then, DCD hearts were considered problematic – the fact it had stopped beating in the body could have left it damaged.
But the solution, a US-made device called an Organ Care System – better known as the ‘heart-in-a-box’ machine – helps restart the heart, keeping it healthy for longer.
With DCD heart retrieval, the dying patient’s medical treatment is terminated – but only if all agree continuing is futile. The heart usually slows and stops in minutes.
The team then waits an extra five minutes to confirm beyond doubt the patient is dead. Only then do surgeons begin.
They remove the heart from the donor, empty it of blood, put it in the box and attach pipes to it. They then pump a mix of the donor’s blood and preservatives through it.
Mr Berman explained: ‘When the heart senses that flow, it slowly starts beating again – all by itself – thanks to a little internal generator called the sinus node.’
Once fired up, doctors spend about an hour assessing it for transplant. If all is good, they transport it to the hospital for the recipient.
NHSBT and NHS piloted the approach in an 18-month trial across the UK. A newly published medical paper shows during that period 179 DBD heart transplants were carried out – plus 50 DCDs.
Crucially, the UK pilot proved survival chances are just as high with a DCD heart.
Mr Berman added: ‘The UK has become the first country in the world that has a nationwide DCD heart transplant programme. It’s a huge achievement.’
Since 2015, 214 British adults have received DCD hearts. Fifteen children have also benefited.
Mother-of-two Melanie Field, 48, who has a genetic condition which caused her heart to start failing in her 20s, could not be happier.
She was three years on the waiting list. When burglars cut electricity to her home, her heart assist machine temporarily stopped, leaving her moments from death. But finally she got an operation in 2021.
She said: ‘DCD opened up my pool of chances. If I hadn’t had my DCD heart, I probably would’ve died.’
Tom Shing, 31, had his operation in 2015. The extreme sports enthusiast said: ‘It changed my life. I was back wakeboarding ten weeks after the op. Without the programme, I wouldn’t be here today.’
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