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91-Year-Old Allograft: Oldest Surviving Donor Heart Still Going: A Case Report
T Doctorian1, D Narasimha1, L Stoletniy1
1Department of Cardiology, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda, California.
Insights
This case report highlights a remarkable 23-year survival in a heart transplant recipient using a donor heart from a 68-year-old. This demonstrates the potential of utilizing older donor hearts to address organ shortages.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Transplantation Medicine
- Geriatric Cardiology
Background:
- Heart transplantation is a successful therapy for end-stage heart failure.
- A significant disparity exists between donor heart supply and demand.
- The rising incidence of heart failure exacerbates the organ shortage.
Abstract:
For patients with end-stage heart failure, heart transplantation remains one of the most successful therapies with excellent long-term survival rates. However, over the past few decades, there has been a worsening supply/demand mismatch given the rising epidemic of heart failure and the relatively fixed availability of donor hearts. In this case report, we describe the case of a 30-year-old woman who underwent transplantation with a 68-year-old donor heart and who has survived for 23 years without any major cardiac problems. To our knowledge, this patient has one of the oldest surviving donor hearts (91-year-old heart). Review of the latest guidelines and recent studies have demonstrated a gradual expansion of donor criteria to meet this critical shortage of donor organs.
