Selection and management of cardiac allograft donors.

The selection of suitable donor hearts is essential for successful recipient outcome. Early allograft failure accounts for approximately 25% of deaths in heart transplantation recipients. The pool of donor organs that become available is inadequate to meet the ever increasing demand. Almost 30% of patients awaiting cardiac transplantation die before a suitable donor heart becomes available. The development of strategies aimed at expanding the donor pool are critically needed. To accomplish this goal it is important to improve donor management, prevent tissue injury following brain death, and attempt to correct donor organ dysfunction.