Cardiac function after domino-donor heart transplantation.

A major limitation in cardiac transplantation is donor availability. A possible way to increase the supply of donor hearts is to use explanted hearts from patients undergoing heart-lung transplantation for primary lung disease. One potential advantage of this approach, termed domino-donor transplantation, is the existence of a donor right ventricle already adapted to pulmonary hypertension, which would therefore theoretically decrease the likelihood of acute donor right heart failure in recipients with preexisting elevation of pulmonary vascular resistance. Potential disadvantages include graft failure secondary to chronic effects of pulmonary hypertension on the right ventricle, arrhythmia and infections. Seven domino-donor transplants were performed at Stanford University Hospital; graft and patient survival to date are 100% at a mean follow-up of 20 months (range 1 to 26). Infection and rejection rates have been comparable to those of the current Stanford experience for conventional orthotopic transplantation. Right ventricular function and size have either improved or remained unchanged in all patients after transplantation. Transient early postoperative donor right ventricular dilation, a characteristic adaptive response seen in nondomino transplants, occurred in 4 patients with pulmonary hypertension before surgery. These data indicate that, with adequate assessment before surgery, domino-donor cardiac transplantation is an appropriate means of augmenting the donor pool.