Cor Vasa 2003, 44(2):91-94
Criteria for heart donors and graft acceptance
- Slovenský ústav srdcových a cievnych chorôb, Bratislava, Slovenská republika
The frequency of heart transplant procedures is stagnating or even slightly decreasing worldwide. The European mean is 4 and, in countries with well organized donor programs, up to 10-12 procedures per million population. This trend is in dire contrast with the increasing number of patients on waiting lists and growing incidence of heart failure. The main cause for this is lack of suitable donors, but low rates of donor acceptance may also be responsible on some occasions. The authors analyzed the current status of donor acceptance with an emphasis on age and donor/recipient weight mismatch.
Keywords: Heart transplantation; Donor criteria; Donor age; Donor weight
Published: February 1, 2003 Show citation