Successful heart transplantation after prolonged cardiac arrest and extracorporeal life support in organ donor–a case report

BACKGROUND: Although heart transplantation is a successful therapy for patients suffering from end-stage heart failure, the therapeutic is limited by the lack of organs. Donor cardiac arrest is a classic hindrance to heart retrieval as it raises issues on post-transplant outcomes. CASE PRESENTATION: The present case reports a successful heart transplantation after prolonged donor cardiac arrest (total lowflow time of 95 minutes) due to anaphylactic shock necessitating extracorporeal life support. We further provide an overview of the current evidence and outcomes of heart transplantation in cases of donor cardiac arrest. CONCLUSION: Providing that donor and recipient criteria are respected, donor cardiac arrest does not seem to be an adverse predictor in heart transplantation. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13019-015-0393-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.