ONE HEART TRANSPLANTED SUCCESSFULLY TWICE

We report the first successful reuse of a previously transplanted hear t after perioperative brain death of the first recipient. The second r ecipient was a 66-year-old man suffering from end-stage ischemic cardi myopath. The intra- and post-operative course of the retransplantation was completely uneventful. At the time of writing, more than 2 years after reuse of the graft, the patient remains in New York Heart Associ ation class I. This procedure, which proved to be possible under certa in optimal conditions, should be considered in the case of brain death of a graft recipient, particularly with regard to the ongoing donor s hortage.