Overview and future practice patterns in cardiac and pulmonary preservation

Heart and lung transplantation have become standard therapy for many patien ts with end-stage heart and lung disease. Successful transplantation requir es preservation of allografts until they can be implanted and reperfused. I n the decades since the transplantation of thoracic organs became a clinica l reality, many advances have been made in preoperative donor management, p rocurement, and preservation techniques. This article summarizes the state of the art in heart and lung preservation and review some of the areas of c urrent research that may lead to improvements in preservation techniques in the future.