NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) — Every 10 minutes somebody is added to the national transplant waiting list and according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, more than 3,800 people in America need a new heart.
Once a person makes their way to the top of the transplant list, it's critical the heart makes it to the recipient safely.
Now Sentara Norfolk General Hospital has a new way it’s protecting hearts while in transit: by using the Paragonix SherpaPak, a temperature-controlled transplant device.
It’s a 20-pound container that connects to Bluetooth on your phone, protects the heart with layers, and keeps the heart evenly cold.
Jonathan Philpott is the first surgeon at the hospital to transplant one of the hearts carried in the SherpaPak. He said the regulated temperature is important because if a heart gets too cold, it can damage the tissue.
"It’s a major issue and most people getting the hearts don’t understand this is a problem," Philpott said.
The new heart went to Norfolk resident and mom Gwenisha Collins. Collins said she ended up at Sentara because her heart was working at five-percent of its full function.
“I developed cardiomyopathy in my eight months of pregnancy with my youngest child,” said Collins.
She spent more than a month-and-a-half in the hospital. When a donor heart was flown in to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, Doctor Philpott gave the good news to his patient.
“I just jumped up and was like, 'What?!' I was in shock,” said Collins.
Philpott said within a week of the transplant, Collins was out of the hospital because her heart was transferred in such good condition.
He explained that transplanted hearts are often "stunned" after being removed from the donor and transported.
“I’ve never seen a heart wake up like this, and my 15 years of doing heart transplantation," he said.
This controlled environment made all the difference for recipients like Collins. Now Philpott hopes the SherpaPak will make it so organs can be carried farther distances past a four-hour limit.
“I’m hoping that this device is going to allow us to extend and then increase our radius, and that’ll help us grow our program and serve more of the patients here in Hampton Roads.”
This new device also is giving patients and mothers, like Collins, an added layer of protection to her second chance at life.
“I feel so blessed and honored to have been able to find a donor,” she said.
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