Heart failure & cardiomyopathiesCohort study
Clinical Outcomes With Normothermic Pulsatile Organ Perfusion in Heart Transplantation: A Report From the Organ Care System (OCS) Heart Perfusion Registry
- Registry study
- multicentre
- propensity-score matched
By 2023, 90% of OCS donor management and recovery by dedicated organ recovery teams
Authors' conclusion
We demonstrate that real-world implementation of the OCS for DBD donors (using predominantly a dedicated recovery team) is associated with expanded donor criteria, longer transport distance, and excellent posttransplantation outcomes. In OCS-DCD donors, outcomes parallel those of donors recovered with NRP-DCD and compare favorably with DBD donor organs.
Study context
- Population
- US heart transplantations, 56 centres, 2021–2023
- Participants
- 3,225 transplantations · 56 centres
- Exposure
- OCS vs static cold storage (SCS) and OCS vs normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) donor hearts
- OCS-DBDn = 340
- SCS-DBDn = 2,174reference
- OCS-DCDn = 514
- NRP-DCDn = 197reference
- Outcome
- Survival
- Follow-up
- 12 months
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
OCS-DBD vs SCS-DBD: P = 0.54 · OCS-DCD vs SCS-DBD: P = 0.32 · OCS-DCD vs NRP-DCD: P = 0.63
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | OCS-DBD | SCS-DBD | OCS-DCD | NRP-DCD | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organ offer refusals before final acceptance · Wilcoxon rank sum | 13 | 6 | Not reported in the abstract | Not reported in the abstract | P < 0.001 |
| Transport distance (DBD) · Wilcoxon rank sum | 667 miles | 232 miles | Not reported in the abstract | Not reported in the abstract | P < 0.001 |
| Transport distance (DCD) · Wilcoxon rank sum | Not reported in the abstract | Not reported in the abstract | 400 miles | 223 miles | P < 0.001 |
Original publication
Clinical Outcomes With Normothermic Pulsatile Organ Perfusion in Heart Transplantation: A Report From the OCS Heart Perfusion Registry. Circulation. Published 7 March 2025. doi:10.1161/circulationaha.124.071743
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it