This is where the donor’s heart beats.

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Every minute is valuable when there is a suitable donor heart for transplant. At Inselspital in Bern a new type of system is used to transport donor hearts, saving valuable time. Chief perfusionist Hans-Jörg Jenni (56) and his team are responsible for this.

Jenni simply explained the basic idea behind the high-tech device called the “Organ Care System OCS”: “The donor heart is taken care of as well as possible,” says Jenni. The perfusion machine consists of a pump with a type of artificial lung and is filled with the donor’s blood. “The heart is constantly supplied with blood and oxygen and continues to beat.” The process is constantly monitored using various parameters such as oxygen saturation, pressure measurement or blood substance analysis. “This way we can constantly change the settings,” says Jenny.

Save time during transplant and surgery

In a traditional transplant, the donor heart is put on ice and stops beating until it reaches the right recipient – ​​this can take up to three hours. Of all the organs that can be donated from the deceased, the heart is damaged the fastest if it is not supplied with blood. “We currently have six hours or more until transplant,” explains Jenni.

This way, donor hearts can fly in through a wider radius, gaining at least two flight hours – increasing the chances of patients waiting for the right organ. The time saved also reduces the pressure of doctors on the work. Jenni: “The surgical team can be better prepared, especially for complex interventions.” Therefore, the tight organization of such a delicate transport is much more important.

use according to the situation

In the first year, the highly complex device was used eight times. Five of them are in Bern, where they are stationed. However, it is also used by two other university hospitals in Zurich and Lausanne in cooperation with Swisstransplant.

“Whether to use a perfusion machine in a heart transplant is always decided on a case-by-case basis,” explains Jenni. For each use, it has to be completely re-equipped at a cost of around CHF 45,000 each time. But whether with a conventional or recent transplant of a vital organ, a heart transplant is not uncommon – around 40 such interventions are performed each year across Switzerland.

Source : Blick