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European Journal of Echocardiography 2005 6(4):260-263; doi:10.1016/j.euje.2004.10.008
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Copyright © 2004, The European Society of Cardiology

The echocardiographic assessment of donor heart function prior to cardiac transplantation

R.V. Venkateswarana,*, R.S. Bonsera and R.P. Steedsb

aDepartment of Heart and Lung Transplantation, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TH, UK
bDepartment of Cardiology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TH, UK

Received 3 August 2004; received in revised form 12 October 2004; accepted after revision 25 October 2004.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 121 472 1311; fax: +44 121 627 2543. E-mail: rajamiyer.venkateswaran@uhb.nhs.uk

Keywords: Echocardiography; Donor heart assessment; Heart transplantation

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Heart transplantation is an effective mode of treatment for patients suffering from end-stage heart failure but the demand for hearts far outweighs supply. Approximately 10–20% of potential heart-transplant recipients die on the waiting list.1 Despite public education initiatives, activity in heart transplantation has been falling, with activity in the UK dropping from >250 cases/year in 1995 to 174 in 2001–2.2 A specific problem within heart transplantation is the low yield of transplantable hearts from the existing donor pool. Once consent has been obtained, the average utilization rate of donor hearts ranges from 39 to 42%.3

Although the failure to use donor hearts is multifactorial, left ventricular dysfunction is the commonest single cause and is responsible for approximately 26% of the unused organs.4 Brain stem death (BSD) is associated with intensive sympathetic nervous system activity and the release of pathophysiological amounts of catecholamines into the circulation.5 This sympathetic ‘storm’ may . . . [Full Text of this Article]


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