Sentara Heart Hospital in Norfolk, Va., part of Sentara Healthcare, has performed the state's first donation after circulatory death — a novel heart transplant method that allows surgeons to revive a donor heart after it has stopped beating, Williamsburg Yorktown Daily reported May 19.
The emerging method preserves the donor heart by connecting it to an organ care system once removed, and is expected to increase the pool of eligible donors.
Sentara Heart Hospital is one of 25 U.S. sites participating in a clinical trial on the method.
The recipient, a 61-year-old man with systolic heart failure, underwent the transplant on Jan. 29.
The procedure was performed by three of Sentara's cardiothoracic surgeons: Johnathan Philpott, MD; Clinton Kemp, MD; and Eric Unger, MD. A perfusion team, research staff and heart failure team were also involved.
"It was completely surreal," Dr. Philpott told the WYDaily. "It was almost like living through a science fiction movie you're watching. There's this little voice of doubt that says it's not going to work, but then there's that little spark of life that returns to the heart, and it starts beating again."