“Vanderbilt Health has pioneered a safe and effective technique for recovering hearts for heart transplantation, according to a new study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The technique, termed REUP (rapid recovery with extended ultraoxygenated preservation), avoids traditional methods that reanimate the heart within or outside the donor’s body. It consists of using oxygenated blood and del Nido cardioplegia solution as a flush for more than 10 to 12 minutes with a newly recovered donor heart. This is a follow-up study after Vanderbilt Health researchers published their initial series in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Vanderbilt Health researchers looked at 24 adult patients who received lifesaving transplants of DCD (donation after cardiac death) hearts recovered with REUP. Of those, only one developed severe primary graft dysfunction requiring temporary extracorporeal life support and significant acute cellular rejection after transplant.

The study showed REUP resulted in good outcomes preserving hearts for up to eight hours, including in older donors and without concern for geographical limitations to get these hearts, broadening the pool of available organs to people waiting for a lifesaving heart transplant.

Using the REUP technique did not prevent recovering other organs, the study also found.”

From Vanderbilt Health.