Author(s)

Karin Purshouse, Stephen Large, Henry Dargie, John Dunning, James Neuberger

Associate Medical Director for NHS Blood and Transplant, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, UK.
Hon Consultant Cardiologist Western Infirmary, Glasgow, UK.
Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK.
Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, UK.

Heart transplantation is without doubt a very effective treatment for patients’ whose lives and well-being are threatened by their failing heart. We previously categorized our concerns into four areas or Ds: Donor availability, Disorganization, Disillusionment (of clinicians) and Disaffection (of tomorrow’s clinicians). After a decade, this is a timely reflection on this crisis of cardiac transplantation. It is also appropriate to set this in the context of a fifth D, the Demand for heart transplantation. In this reflective analysis, we use the 5 Ds to explore the current climate in heart transplantation, with particular reference to the situation in the UK.

Heart Transplantation; Heart Failure

Purshouse, K. , Large, S. , Dargie, H. , Dunning, J. and Neuberger, J. (2012) Is There a Crisis in Heart Transplantation? Reflection over 10 Years. Open Journal of Organ Transplant Surgery, 2, 1-4. doi: 10.4236/ojots.2012.21001.