Norfolk-based Va. Sentara Norfolk General is using temperature-controlled containers to deliver donated hearts, according to 13 ABC News.
The system Sentara Norfolk General uses is call the Paragonix SherpaPak. The first patient to receive a heart carried in the new container was said to have recovered sooner than other patients receiving transplants.
The typical heart transplant patient takes over a month and a half to recuperate. Hearts that are chilled with SherpPak heal faster, and patients can leave the hospital in little as a week, according to 13 ABC News.
Keeping the heart preserved through temperature regulation is a major issue and "most people getting the hearts don’t understand this is a problem," said Jonathan Philpott, MD, transplant surgeon at Sentara Norfolk General.
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