In the U.S., heart donation occurs after a person has been declared brain dead and is called a donor after brain death (DBD). In these patients, the heart continues to beat and pump blood throughout the body. After life support is withdrawn, organs are retrieved immediately for transplantation. This study will use hearts from donors after circulatory death (DCD) donors. DCD donors are those whose hearts have stopped beating and no longer pump blood. DCD hearts are not used as often for transplantation today in the U.S. because they may be further injured during traditional cold storage. In the US, donor hearts are currently mostly obtained from donors after brain death (DBD), although DCD donors are used for other donated organs, such as: lungs, kidneys, and livers.~This study will evaluate whether patients who receive a DCD heart transplant using either NRP or DPP have similar outcomes as patients who receive DBD hearts using standard cold storage. The study will also evaluate whether DCD procured hearts have a meaningful impact on hearts available for transplantation at our center. Ten (10) DCD donor heart recipients will be enrolled into the study intervention group, and approximately 30 DBD donor heart recipients will be enrolled into the control group.
The purpose the research is to evaluate whether patients who receive a Donation after Circulatory Death (DCD) heart for cardiac transplantation using either normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) or direct procurement and perfusion (DPP) have similar outcomes as patients who receive Donation after Brain Death (DBD) heart using standard cold storage. The study will also evaluate whether DCD procured hearts have a meaningful impact on hearts available for transplantation at our center.