The frozen heart of a donor needs to be transported in maximum four hours, Bild reports.
Berlin scientists have developed a method of heart preservation: “hypothermic oxygenated machine perfusion.”
The device uses a special nutrient and preservative solution, a cooling system, a pump for liquid circulation, and an oxygen generator.
The donor heart is connected to the pump, which constantly washes the organ with a solution and saturates the cells with oxygen. This enables the heart to be moved without damage over a long period of time, assures cardiologist Professor Christoph Knosalla.
The system has successfully passed the test and is already being used in the Charité Clinic of the German Heart Center.
Patients who received a donor heart with the help of this new device had fewer problems after the transplant than usual, as the probability of complications decreased by 44 percent.
