The Italian Heart Transplant Project: organization of a multicenter program

The Italian Heart Transplant Project is a national program coordinated by the Health Ministry and involves eight cardiac surgery centers, two coordination centers for organ procurement, and one national registry. An intercenter network for the solution of logistic problems regarding organ procurement and assignment has been built up. Preintervention and clinical follow-up data are recorded in each center and in a national registry by the implementation of a computerized data base. This is realized by employing low cost and diffuse software and hardware. The complex goal of common data collection and standardization is also being pursued for collateral areas such as cardiac pathology and immunologic surveillance. Data collection is useful for clinical monitoring and also for costs and/or requirements analysis.