SEATTLE -- In some cases, it can take years of waiting to get a heart transplant. At the same time, many donor hearts have to be rejected because they fail to make to grade or because the donor is too far away. Now UW Medicine is one of seven medical centers participating in a nationwide study that could solve all those problems.
John McLean is one of more than 4,000 people in the U.S. on the heart transplant waiting list. While the number of heart failure patients has grown dramatically, the supply hasn't.
"Although the number of total donors out there has gone up, the number of hearts accepted for transplant has gone down," said Dr. Jason Smith, UW Medicine cardiothoracic surgeon.
That's because transplant standards have gotten stricter, but the method of transporting those organs remains low-tech.
"It's just an Igloo cooler. You fill it up with ice and bring the heart back," Dr. Smith said.
On ice, a heart can last between four to six hours, which poses some challenges.
"Especially in the Northwest where we're geographically isolated, we often have to start the recipient operation the heart arrives so we limited that time the heart is out of the body because we're already pushing that time limit on every transplant we do," he said.
A new technology from TransMedics, called The Organ Care System, could potentially double that window.
"This system goes out to the donor site. The heart gets put on the system right in the OR when the heart gets procured and brought back in a warm beating state."
Instead of a heart bypass machine, think of it as a body bypass machine. The donor heart keeps beating until it reaches its new owner. This new technology may be also able to reboot hearts that would otherwise be considered borderline for transplant, increasing the supply, as well the time window for transplant.
The UW Medicine heart transplant team now stands poised and ready for the first test drive.
