Intoxicated Donors and Heart Transplant Outcomes: Long-Term Safety

David A. Baran, M.D. System Director for Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation at Sentara Heart Hospital in Virginia,  publishes the first study that looks at donor toxicology records for heart transplant recipients.  Survival rates from organ donors who used illicit drugs or overdosed are shown to be unaffected and safe for transplant according to recent research study published in Circulation: Heart Failure 2021.  These findings may reduce the wait time and death among candidates on the heart transplant waitlist.