Direct Procurement of Donor Heart With Normothermic Regional Perfusion of Abdominal Organs

We wanted to evaluate if direct procurement of the heart is possible in combination with normothermic regional perfusion of abdominal organs in donors after circulatory death. A donation after circulatory death pathway was used for a 41-year-old woman after an irreversible brain injury. After meeting criteria for the organ donation, the heart was retrieved and re-animated on ex situ perfusion system, and abdominal organs were perfused with normothermic regional perfusion. All the donated organs and their recipients had excellent short-term outcome. We demonstrated a successful combination of direct procurement of the heart and normothermic regional perfusion of the abdominal organs.