“The organ traveled in the cabin”: a heart taken in the West Indies flew 12 hours before being transplanted into a patient in Paris

For the first time, a heart transplant was successfully carried out after 12 hours of storage on board a commercial flight. MAXPPP – © Roger Masip – Northern Islands Press Agency

A heart taken in the West Indies in January 2024 traveled several hours over the Atlantic before being transplanted into a patient in Paris. A first bringer of hope for patients awaiting transplantation.

In January 2024, a heart was successfully transplanted in Paris after traveling 6,700 kilometers separating the Antilles and France, according to France-Antilles Martinique.

Twelve hours in the air

The organ was preserved for twelve hours, an achievement given that current techniques only allow a heart to be preserved in good conditions for a maximum of four hours. "Unlike other organs such as the kidney, the heart tolerates ischemia very poorly", explains to BFMTV Professor Guillaume Lebreton.

It was he who carried out the transplantation as part of a pilot study, Pegase of which he reports the results in an article published by The Lancet on February 28, 2024."The organ traveled in the cabin so that the device could be monitoredpr

For the first time, a heart transplant has been successfully performed after 12 h preservation aboard a commercial flight, marking a substantial advancement in organ transplantation.

Explore more about this case 👇 https://t.co/87K3zDNwEd pic.twitter.com/NZ6DeL6cmS

— The Lancet (@TheLancet) March 19, 2024

To achieve this promise, the heart was kept in a m"The organ traveled in the cabin so that we could monitor the deviceperfusion machine ex vivo. This concentrate of technology manufactured by the Swedish company Xvivo "cools the heart to 8°C and continuously perfuses it with blood and oxygen&quot ;, explains Guillaume Lebreton. This method makes it possible to extend the preservation time of heart grafts and improve transplant results, indicates Europe 1.

"The operation went well"

The organ was extracted from a 48-year-old brain-dead patient and placed in the machine before boarding a commercial Air France flight to Paris. "The organ traveled in the cabin so that we could monitor the device and intervene if necessary", explains the surgeon.

The transplant then took place at Pitié-Salpetrière on a 70-year-old patient. "The operation went well, he is doing very well", congratulates Guillaume Lebreton.