Early function of cardiac homografts: relationship to hemodynamics in the donor and length of the ischemic period.
Twenty-four of 124 heart transplant recipients in our study group died in the perioperative period. In five patients the cause of death was unknown even after postmortem examination. The possibility that the cause of death was due either to poor donor selection or poor preservation of the donor heart was evaluated by reviewing the length of ischemic time of the cardiac homografts and the need for inotropic support in the donors before the hearts were harvested. Results of our retrospective analysis indicate that inotropic support in the form of 2 to 10 micrograms/kg/min dopamine and an ischemic time of up to 4 hr do not influence the early survival of heart transplant recipients.
D000328:Adult; D003331:Coronary Vessels; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D009926:Organ Preservation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D014019:Tissue Donors; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous