Mayo Clinic surgeons perform first-of-its-kind heart transplant in Arizona

SCOTTSDALE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) -- A first-of-its-kind heart transplant in Arizona gave the gift of life to a man from Lake Havasu City.

The transplant is possible thanks to a special box, capable of bringing a human heart back to life and extending the health of a donor’s organs in order to save even more lives. Before this technology, a heart transplant was only possible if the donor died from brain death. With this new box, it’s now possible to do what doctors call a natural circulatory death.

“Anytime the heart goes from a stopped state to a start state, it’s always impressive,” said Dr. Patrick DeValeria, a Mayo Clinic surgeon who performed the first ever ‘heart-in-a-box’ procedure in Arizona. He says this procedure was life-changing for recipient Jeff Robinson. “With this technique it gives us 9, 10, 12 hours of time where the heart can be outside of the body, which will allow for betting matching of donors,” Dr. DeValeria said. “Now we can go potentially to Maine and get a heart for someone who really needs it in Arizona.”

Robinson had been suffering from heart disease for more than ten years, waiting on the transplant list for months with a life expectancy of only two years. “I didn’t want to be the guy in a wheelchair or rocking chair in five years, just waiting you know,” Robinson said. “I jumped at the chance.” He said he looks forward to spending his given time with his grandkids. “I want to thank the donor family from the bottom of my new heart,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports more than 3,300 people are waiting for a heart transplant. Fifty of that number are Arizonans. This new device expands the pool of donors since it doesn’t rely on the person to be “brain dead” for procurement. This new invention also gives the organ a longer window of time out of the body, where in the past, the heart would be put on ice for four hours at most.

A spokesperson for Mayo Clinic said those on the transplant list could ask their transplant centers if they’re using this technology. The “Heart-in-a-Box” device is technically called OCS Heart and was created by Transmedics, a Massachusetts-based company. It’s the world’s first and only device under Federal Drug Administration review of its kind.

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