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Editorial
. 2025 Feb;44(2):285-288.
doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2024.09.025. Epub 2024 Oct 5.

A perspective on the added value of red blood cells during cardiac hypothermic oxygenated perfusion

Mats T Vervoorn  1 , Elisa M Ballan  2 , Selma E Kaffka Genaamd Dengler  1 , Veronique M F Meijborg  3 , Saskia C A de Jager  3 , Richard Van Wijk  4 , Niels P van der Kaaij  5
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Editorial

A perspective on the added value of red blood cells during cardiac hypothermic oxygenated perfusion

Mats T Vervoorn et al. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2025 Feb.

Abstract

Hypothermic oxygenated perfusion (HOPE) is an emerging technique for donor heart preservation that is currently being studied in multiple clinical trials with promising results. When compared to HOPE for other organs, cardiac protocols involve red blood cell (RBC) supplementation, despite absence of comparative evidence for its benefits. In this perspective paper, we discuss the pros and cons of the addition of RBCs during cardiac HOPE. Although the current clinical results with RBC supplementation during HOPE seem promising, potential downsides of RBC supplementation cannot be ruled out. The impact of supplemented RBCs during cardiac HOPE requires further investigation to improve HOPE protocols, to optimize heart preservation using this promising technology.

Keywords: cardiac HOPE; donor heart preservation; ex-situ heart perfusion; heart transplantation; red blood cells.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure statement The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. This study was funded by the Regenerative Medicine Crossing Borders (RegMed XB) public-private partnership and by the PPP Allowance made available by Top Sector Life Sciences & Health to stimulate public-private partnerships.

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