Donor Selection for Heart Transplantation in 2025

The number of candidates on the waiting list for heart transplantation (HT) continues to far outweigh the number of available organs, and the donor heart nonuse rate in the United States remains significantly higher than that of other regions such as Europe. Although predicting outcomes in HT remains challenging, our overall understanding of the factors that play a role in post-HT outcomes continues to grow. We observe that many donor risk factors that are deemed "high-risk" do not necessarily always adversely affect post-HT outcomes, but are in fact nuanced and interact with other donor and recipient risk factors. The field of HT continues to evolve, with ongoing development of technologies for organ preservation during transport, expansion of the practice of donation after circulatory death, and proposed changes to organ allocation policy. As such, the field must continue to refine its processes for donor selection and risk prediction in HT.