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Doctor Stories
Stanford Medicine Surgeons Pioneer Beating-Heart Transplantation to Expand Donor Pool and Improve Outcomes
09.19.2025
In 2022, Stanford Medicine cardiothoracic surgeons performed the world鈥檚 first beating-heart transplant in an adult using a donor heart after circulatory death with the support of an organ perfusion system. This innovation not only increased the availability of donor hearts but also shifted the paradigm in heart transplantation.
鈥淒eveloping this technique has enabled us to improve outcomes in patients needing a lifesaving heart transplant,鈥 explains Joseph Woo, MD, the Norman E. Shumway Professor and Chair of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford Medicine.
Organ perfusion systems have expanded the pool of potential donor hearts. With mechanical perfusion, surgeons can use hearts from donors who have died from circulatory death鈥攌nown as DCD (donation after circulatory death). Perfusion systems reanimate DCD hearts after they are removed from the donor, allowing them to continue pumping blood while being evaluated for transplant and transported to a recipient. Keeping a heart beating, rather than asleep on ice, improves both its assessment and preservation.
CARE AT STANFORD
We鈥檙e recognized worldwide as leaders in heart failure care and heart transplantation, achieving excellent outcomes with shorter-than-expected wait times.
650-723-5468
Transplanting DCD hearts has traditionally required stopping the heart twice: first at the time of death and then immediately before transplantation after it鈥檚 removed from perfusion. Dr. Woo and his colleagues understood that arresting a donor heart a second time induces more injury to the heart and increases the recipient鈥檚 recovery time.
Questioning the need to stop a beating heart before transplant led them to evaluate the feasibility of transplanting a beating heart and develop protocols to do so. Outcomes ultimately showed that patients undergoing beating-heart transplants recovered faster, spent less time in the ICU, and were less likely to need postoperative blood transfusions or dialysis.
Other centers across the world are now performing this procedure with growing frequency to help increase transplant access to an ever-growing population of candidates. A recent is evidence that a concept born at Stanford Medicine continues to transform the field.
鈥淲e are proud to carry on Stanford Medicine鈥檚 legacy of pioneering some of the firsts in heart transplantation, a precedent set by Dr. Norman E. Shumway, who performed the first adult heart transplant in the United States in 1968,鈥 says Dr. Woo.
Watch听听with Stanford Medicine surgeons involved in the first beating-heart transplant. (Warning: This video contains graphic images of a beating heart and surgical procedures).
Learn more about the Heart Transplant Program at 糖心传媒.
CARE AT STANFORD
We鈥檙e recognized worldwide as leaders in heart failure care and heart transplantation, achieving excellent outcomes with shorter-than-expected wait times.
650-723-5468