The Journal of heart and lung transplantation : the official publication of the International Society for Heart Transplantation
-
J. Heart Lung Transplant. · Jan 1992
Summary of the clinical use of the Symbion total artificial heart: a registry report.
Several models of total artificial hearts have been used for transient or permanent circulatory support in patients with decompensation. The most successful and widely used device, however, has been the Symbion total artificial heart. From Dec. 12, 1982, to Jan. 1, 1991, 180 Symbion total artificial hearts were implanted in 176 patients in 28 centers. ⋯ The main causes of death were sepsis (33%), multiorgan failure (21%), and posttransplant rejection (10%). The results indicate a relative success of this treatment for patients with an otherwise fatal prognosis. Moreover, as the demand for donor organs far exceeds availability, continued investigation of total artificial hearts is justified.
-
J. Heart Lung Transplant. · Jan 1992
Case ReportsSuccessful transplantation of a lung allograft from a carbon monoxide-poisoning victim.
Donor availability remains the limiting factor to heart and lung transplantation. Donor selection criteria need to be continuously reassessed to expand the donor pool. The feasibility of organ donation from victims of carbon monoxide poisoning is unclear. We present a case of successful single lung transplantation from a carbon monoxide-poisoning victim.
-
J. Heart Lung Transplant. · Jan 1992
Perioperative mechanical circulatory support for transplantation.
Mechanical circulatory assistance has become a necessary supplement to more conventional means of hemodynamic support as a shortage of donor organs and associated increase in waiting time have contributed to an increased incidence of hemodynamic deterioration in potential transplant recipients. This review summarizes the experience with circulatory support before and after transplantation of the Utah Transplantation Affiliated Hospitals (UTAH) Cardiac Transplant Program and draws conclusions on the efficacy of one program's use of mechanical circulatory support. Between March 1985 and October 1990, 401 patients were accepted for first-time heart transplantation by the UTAH program. ⋯ No single factor, including either hemodynamic support before transplantation or donor heart ischemic time, was found to be predictive of the need for mechanical circulatory support after transplantation. One-year survival rates after transplantation of patients requiring mechanical circulatory support before transplantation (86%) were not significantly different than for all transplant patients (88%). The experience of the UTAH Cardiac Transplant Program shows that with the judicious use of mechanical circulatory support transplant patients with advanced forms of hemodynamic support can have as equal a probability of survival as patients who undergo elective transplantation.