Nowadays, a heart tranplant surgery is more common, as a result the demand of this procedure is coontinously increasing but the supply fails its demand. Over 140 centers perform heart transplantation in the U.S. Over 250 centers report to the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation as heart transplant center worldwide. Approximately 3,700 to 3,800 heart transplants are performed worldwide. About 2,200 are performed in the U.S.
As a usual procedure, the heart is placed in preservation solution in sterile bag which is surrounded with ice cubes during transport. The heart can be stored only four to six hours. By this short life of heart while in preservation, there is a limited recipient from a donor.
Now doctors in Seattle are testing a new system for transporting donor hearts that they hope will close the gap of a donor and a recipient. Through this heart-in-a-box device, the heart stored for a long time to travel in a good condition. With this pictures the doctors travel the heart for 11 hours.
Delivering donor organs is always a race against time. Organs are still placed on ice in plastic coolers, and the rush to move them to hospitals in need looks a lot like it does on movies and television. Today, eight out of 10 hearts never reach patients who need them due to numerous complications. One major complication is time. A heart on ice is only viable for approximately six hours. The greater the distance between hospitals, the great the risk. By the time donor hearts reach potential recipients, the coolers have often damaged the donor hearts too much to use successfully.
The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has been testing the machines for use with donor hearts since 2010. This new, revolutionary device pumps blood through human hearts, allowing them to stay warm and survive longer during transport.