"Dead" hearts transplanted into living patients

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This is an interesting development:

In a world first, Australian surgeons have successfully transplanted "dead" hearts into patients at Sydney's St Vincent's hospital.

The procedure, using hearts that had stopped beating, has been described as a "paradigm shift" that will herald a major increase in the pool of hearts available for transplantation. It's predicted the breakthrough will save the lives of 30% more heart transplant patients.

Until now, transplant units have relied solely on still-beating donor hearts from braindead patients. But the team at St Vincent's Hospital heart lung transplant unit announced on Friday they had transplanted three heart failure patients using donor hearts that had stopped beating for 20 minutes.

Two of them have recovered well, while the third, who recently undertook the procedure, is still in intensive care.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2...iving-patients
  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    20 minutes is REALLY pushing it! PLEASE tell me they at least had the patients on life support! WHEW! YEP, They at least have the hearts beat outside the body a while. Hopefully they at least check the color, etc... Frankly, if I had such a thing done, and found they didn't at least inspect the beating heart for dead spots, and make sure it beat properly, and I then had a problem, I would be pretty upset.

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author whateverpedia
      Originally Posted by seasoned View Post

      Hopefully they at least check the color, etc... Frankly, if I had such a thing done, and found they didn't at least inspect the beating heart for dead spots, and make sure it beat properly
      From the linked article:

      Cardiologist and unit director Peter MacDonald said the donor hearts were housed in a portable console dubbed a “heart in a box”.

      Here they were submerged in a ground-breaking preservation solution jointly developed by the hospital and the Victor Chang cardiac research institute.

      The hearts were then connected to a sterile circuit where they were kept beating and warm.
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    Interesting.

    It's kinda surreal how pharms are going backward from cure while cut and paste is getting so remarkable.
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  • Profile picture of the author bizgrower
    Could get real interesting if people start describing the death and post-death experiences of the donors.
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      The hearts aren't dead. The cells are still alive. The tissue is still alive. Metabolism is still happening.

      It's like saying someone is dead, because they stopped breathing....or because their heart stopped. As long as there is residual oxygen in the tissue, and the cells are alive....it's still alive.

      I can't wait for the "ghost heart" claims to start.
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

        The hearts aren't dead. The cells are still alive. The tissue is still alive. Metabolism is still happening.

        It's like saying someone is dead, because they stopped breathing....or because their heart stopped. As long as there is residual oxygen in the tissue, and the cells are alive....it's still alive.

        I can't wait for the "ghost heart" claims to start.
        Cells start dying QUICKLY! The heart may be the second biggest user of oxygen in the body, so you would axpect it to be the second to start dying. The first one to start dying generally starts dying within about 5 minutes. ALSO, a non beating heart generally indicates a problem. It can continue beating with relatively little blood or oxygen.

        Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author whateverpedia
        Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

        The hearts aren't dead. The cells are still alive. The tissue is still alive. Metabolism is still happening.
        Hence the quotation marks around the word dead in the title and the opening sentence.
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        • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
          Originally Posted by whateverpedia View Post

          Hence the quotation marks around the word dead in the title and the opening sentence.
          I know. My post wasn't for you.

          To be frank, I saw who wrote the post, and then looked again at the title. It would be unlike you to make a mistake like that.
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  • Profile picture of the author whateverpedia
    ^^^ Smartarse.
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    • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
      It's jolly clever stuff either way. I really enjoyed reading that.
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      • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
        Originally Posted by Richard Van View Post

        It's jolly clever stuff either way. I really enjoyed reading that.
        Good Day, Sir! .....I said GOOD DAY!
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