A Novel National Program to Maximize Utilization of Heart and Lung Allografts from Donors After Brain Death (DBD) and Donors After Circulatory Death (DCD) for Transplantation

Abstract

<h3>Purpose</h3> Build a national network of dedicated cardiothoracic surgical procurement and Organ Care System (OCS™) ex-vivo perfusion clinical experts to: Maximize cardiothoracic donor organ utilization for transplantation; overcome logistical and infrastructural burden of distant organ procurements and national allocation; standardize clinical quality of care of ex-vivo perfusion management of cardiothoracic allografts; and establish a better work-life balance for transplant teams across the U.S. <h3>Methods</h3> Leveraging the OCS, the only FDA approved portable perfusion technology for heart and lung transplantation, to build a national infrastructure to enable a turn-key service. This program comprehensively covers: donor screening, donor surgical procurement, OCS perfusion management and transportation of allografts from donor hospitals to any transplant program in the U.S. <h3>Results</h3> The National OCS Program (NOP) was initiated in 2021 for lung transplantation using the OCS Lung technology in 9 major regions across the U.S. Early experience is very encouraging and demonstrated the capabilities of NOP to significantly expand thoracic organ retrieval distance. Enabling cross-country thoracic organ sharing to benefit more patients awaiting transplants while unburdening transplant programs resources. The map below demonstrates actual NOP lung transplants. NOP is now expanding to include OCS Heart and provide similar service to heart transplant programs across the U.S. <h3>Conclusion</h3> The process of cardiothoracic donor organ procurement and related logistics are challenging and unscalable to meet the growing national demand for increased donor organ utilization for lung and heart transplantation. NOP was designed to create a collaborative partnership between industry, OPOs and transplant programs to provide solutions to overcome the existing challenges and transform the field of cardiothoracic transplantation in the U.S.