Xvivo Perfusion AB (publ) announced the results of the clinical trial conducted in Australia and New Zealand on XVIVO's heart technology were earlier this week published in the prestigious scientific journal, The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation [1]. The study concludes that donor hearts that were previously considered unsuitable for transplantation due to long distances between hospitals may be transplanted with a 100% survival rate at 30-days when transported in XVIVO Heart Assist Transport. Ice-based, cold static storage, is still used during transport of the vast majority of donor hearts.

When the transport time of the heart exceeds 4 hours, the transplanted patient faces an increased risk of severe complications or even death. This risk increases significantly with each additional hour of transport. Still, up to 40% of transplant recipients are exposed to this risk due to the scarcity of donor hearts.

The long distances between hospitals will often prevent the use of a donor heart at all, leaving a critically ill person waiting for a new organ. In the study conducted at five transplant centers across Australia and New Zealand, researchers investigated the use of donor hearts with a projected transport time of 6-8 hours using the XVIVO Heart Assist Transport device. The 36 included patients received donor hearts with a mean transport time of nearly 7 hours, with the longest transport time being 8 hours and 47 minutes.

Survival at 30 days after transplant was 100%, with only one patient developing primary graft dysfunction (PGD), which resolved within a week.