Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have developed a groundbreaking new method for the recovery of hearts from deceased organ donors after circulatory death (DCD). The method (rapid recovery with extended ultra-oxygenated preservation [REUP]), which involves flushing the donor heart with a cold oxygenated preservation solution after death, avoids the disadvantages of two existing preservation methods, both of which reanimate the heart, one that has ethical questions and another that is expensive.
The former method known as normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) involves reanimating the heart in the deceased donor’s body, which some have ethical concerns about and is not allowed in all states or countries. The latter uses ex situ perfusion systems that are costly and laborious, and provides an imperfect and less physiologic reanimation of the heart… Continue reading.