London, Ont. hospital completes first Canadian 'heart in a box' transplant

In a Canadian first, the cardiac team from London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) has completed a heart transplant using the Transmedics Organ Care system, often referred to as “heart in a box.”

The system allowed the team to implant a donor heart that may not have been eligible for a transplant otherwise. “Heart in a box” systems are used to revive a donor heart that has stopped beating after circulatory death, explained Dr. Dave Nagpal, co-director of the multi-organ transplant program.

“So this technology allows us to take that heart with some donor blood, put it on this machine, and watch the function of the heart, so we make sure that the heart is good enough for use for our recipient,”