Domino transplantation of heart-lung and heart: an approach to overcome the scarcity of donor organs.

The scarcity of donor organs remains the main restricting factor for heart, heart-lung, and lung transplantation. Recently new techniques for separate harvesting of the heart and the lungs from one donor for two recipients have been developed. These techniques enable the optimal use of available grafts. Another approach to this problem is combined heart-lung transplantation for patients with end-stage lung disease but still adequate heart performance, and the subsequent transplantation of the recipient's heart into a second patient with end-stage heart disease. The main advantages of this procedure are its technical simplicity compared with double lung transplantation; the preservation of aortobronchial collaterals, resulting in improved blood supply to the trachea; and the possibility of transplanting a conditioned right heart well adapted to chronically elevated pulmonary pressure. We recently have performed this procedure with good clinical results and suggest it as the method of choice whenever two well-matched recipients are available.