Successful cardiac transplantation from donor with carbon monoxide intoxication: a case report.
BACKGROUND
The use of hearts for cardiac transplantation from donors with brain death due to exposure to high concentrations of carbon monoxide is still under discussion. In this short report we have presented a patient who underwent a successful cardiac transplantation from a brain-dead donor who had cardiopulmonary resuscitation after carbon monoxide intoxication.


METHODS
A standard biatrial anastomosis technique was used in our patient. The transplantation was uneventful with donor ischemic time of 180 minutes. The patient was treated with mechanical ventilation for 72 hours. The donor liver biopsy during harvesting did not reveal irreversible changes. Although the donor had a history of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the left ventricular ejection fraction was 55% and the echocardiographic evaluation revealed normal cardiac contractions with acceptable hemodynamic parameters. Positive inotropic support was needed in the early postoperative period. We did not observe any changes related to intoxication in the endomyocardial biopsy.


CONCLUSIONS
We concluded that successful heart transplantation can be performed using hearts from patients succumbing to carbon monoxide poisoning in the presence of adequate cardiac functional parameters. This group will increase the number of cardiac transplantations and decrease the incidence of deaths among patients on transplantation lists.
Sezgin
A
A
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey.
Akay
T H
TH
Ozkan
S
S
Gültekin
B
B
D000328:Adult; D001926:Brain Death; D002249:Carbon Monoxide Poisoning; D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000601:surgery*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014019:Tissue Donors; D016896:Treatment Outcome