Vanderbilt University Medical Center

New Capabilities

Developed and tested the REUP technique

For decades, a donated heart had to reach its recipient within four hours, and only hearts from brain-dead donors qualified. Both constraints are now falling. A Vanderbilt University team has published results in the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that their REUP technique—a flush of oxygenated blood, del Nido cardioplegia solution, and cardioprotective additives—can preserve a heart from a donor whose heart has stopped beating for up to eight hours, with outcomes matching or exceeding existing methods at roughly $2,000 per transplant instead of $65,000.

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