Sweden has a generally high willingness to donate, but the number of actual organs donated is few. But many more who die in an intensive care unit could donate their hearts, a new study shows.

Many hearts are rejected today because, in conjunction with the death of a person after brain death, they have an impaired function. In the event of brain death, the body is subjected to severe stress, which means that a healthy heart may appear to be weakened.

But the study conducted at the Sahlgrenska Academy shows that such a condition in the heart is usually temporary and that the normal function actually returns.

Longest study

In the study, recipients of transplanted hearts in Gothenburg have been followed up for ten years, which is the longest of its kind. Of the 338 donated hearts, 45 were the hearts that had stress-triggered heart failure during the transplant. This means that the heart's ability to pump blood into the body is temporarily weakened.

In particular, it was younger donors who suffered acute heart failure when brain death occurred. But the study shows that there were no differences in cardiac function in those who received such a heart compared to the other heart transplants.

Already used by surgeons

But Richard Ingemansson, professor and chief physician at Lund University, believes that this is something that many cardiac surgeons are already familiar with before and take into account when choosing donation organs.

- It is an interesting study, although it is known that heart function will return. But all studies are like puzzle pieces that contribute and open up to more similar studies.

Can reduce waiting list

Now, more studies will be conducted where the researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy will look at how a heart with acute heart failure recovers in conjunction with transplantation.

- It would be significant to be able to transplant more stress-affected hearts, especially since younger donors are most affected by that condition. Using more such hearts could reduce the waiting list and increase the number of transplants by 20 - 30 percent, says research intensive care physician Jonatan Oras.

The study was published in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

See more about organ donations in "Organ on the road" in the World of Science and "The Donation" on SVT Play.