Heart transplantation is the final treatment option for those patients with end stage heart disease. A shortage of donors coupled with the fact that not all donated hearts are suitable for transplant mean that many patients must wait for many months or years for a suitable organ and some may die waiting. Better methods of resuscitating hearts after removal from donors and preserving them while transported to a recipient would allow more hearts to be used and more lives saved.

In collaboration with Assoc Professor Livia Hool, a cardiac electrophysiologist at the University of Western Australia, Assoc Prof Kwok Ho an intensive care specialist at Royal Perth Hospital and Prof Peter Macdonald from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Dr Pavey has assembled an experienced team to investigate the novel technique of using gas instead of blood to resuscitate and support donated organs before transplantation.

Gas may provide a more effective, simpler and cheaper method of resuscitation and storage than machines circulating fluid or blood through the heart while outside the body.

This project is generously funded by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, research will take place at the institute’s laboratory at Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and Murdoch University, WA. Results are expected to be published within two years.