Canada\u2019s first-ever heart transplant using a heart that stopped beating before being donated has successfully been performed in Toronto, according to University Health Network (UHN). <\/p>\n
The hospital network said the \u201csuccessful completion of Canada\u2019s first donation after death by circulatory criteria (DCC)\u201d heart transplant was carried out in early September at Toronto General Hospital. <\/p>\n
Cardiac surgeon Dr. Seyed Alireza Rabi at UHN\u2019s Peter Munk Cardiac Centre led the procedure alongside Dr. Michael McDonald\u2019s team of cardiologists.<\/p>\n
\u201cTraditionally, heart transplants have only been possible from donors where the brain has permanently ceased to function, while the heart continues to beat,\u201d UHN said in a news release.<\/p>\n
Donations after death by circulatory criteria involves patients who do not have a chance of neurological recovery and also don\u2019t meet the criteria for brain death. <\/p>\n
Once the patient, or their family, has agreed to being taken off life support and their death is confirmed, UHN says it quickly recover their organs. <\/p>\n
Though these hearts are briefly without oxygen, UHN says today\u2019s medical technology assists with successful transplantation under \u201ccarefully defined\u201d criteria.<\/p>\n
\u201cHeart transplantation is the only cure for advanced heart failure. Many advanced heart failure patients never make it to the waitlist, and a significant number of those who do succumb to their disease while awaiting precious organs,\u201d Rabi said in Wednesday\u2019s release.<\/p>\n
This is not the first successful DCC transplant Rabi has performed, as he was part of the team that conducted the surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital in 2019.<\/p>\n
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones congratulated the medical team for the \u201chistoric milestone in Canadian healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first DCC transplant in Canada performed right here in Ontario demonstrates how innovation and collaboration can save more lives,\u201d she said in the release. <\/p>\n
By the end of 2024, the Canadian Institute for Health Information says there were 184 Canadians waiting for heart transplants\u201429 of whom were children.<\/p>\n
This type of transplant is projected to boost the heart donor pool by 30 per cent, UHN said.<\/p>\n
The transplant recipient is \u201crecovering well,\u201d the hospital network said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s first-ever heart transplant using a heart that stopped beating before being donated has successfully been performed in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[712,49,48,84,392],"class_list":{"0":"post-207807","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}