Heart transplantation from donation-after-circulatory-death (DCD) donors: Back to the future ―Evolving trends in heart transplantation from DCD donors

Heart transplantation from donation-after-circulatory death (DCD) donors is not new. The first human heart transplant performed by Christiaan Barnard in 1967 was from a DCD donor, as were the heart transplants performed by other surgeons in the months that followed. After the establishment of brain-death criteria in 1968, virtually all donor hearts for the next 36years were recovered from donation-after-brain-death (DBD) donors. Between 2004 and 2007, surgeons in Denver, Colorado, performed 3 infant heart transplants from pediatric DCD donors.
Source: The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation - Category: Transplant Surgery Authors: Tags: EDITORIAL Source Type: research