Surgeons have carried out the UK ’ s first transplant of a non-beating heart . Donor hearts are usually from people who are brain-stem dead , but whose hearts are still beating . In this case , the organ came from a donor after their heart and lungs had stopped functioning . Surgeons at Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire restored function to the heart before placing it on an Organ Care System to maintain its quality before it was transplanted . It is the first time such a procedure has been performed in Europe . Surgeons at Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire restored function to the heart before placing it on an Organ Care System to maintain its quality before it was transplanted to 60-year-old Huseyin Ulucan from London . Recipient Huseyin Ulucan , 60 , from London , who underwent surgery earlier this month , had a heart attack in 2008 . He said : ‘ Before the surgery , I really had no quality of life . Now I ’ m feeling stronger every day. ’ The hospital said Mr Ulucan was making ‘ remarkable progress ’ after spending only four days in its critical care unit before being allowed to go home . Currently not everyone who needs a heart transplant can have one due to there not being enough suitable ones available . However , it is hoped that by using non-beating hearts , the number of people able to have heart transplants could increase by up to 25 per cent in the UK alone , saving hundreds of lives . Last year , surgeons in Australia performed the world ’ s first transplant using a non-beating heart . Consultant surgeon Stephen Large , who led the Papworth transplant team , said : ‘ The use of this group of donor hearts could increase heart transplantation by up to 25 per cent in the UK alone. ’ There have been 171 heart transplant in the past 12 months in the UK . But demand exceeds supply , and some patients have to wait up to three years for a suitable organ , with many dying on the waiting list . Non-beating-heart donors provide kidneys , livers and other organs , but until now it has not been possible to use the heart because of concerns it would suffer damage . Huseyin Ulucan , from London ( pictured with wife Meryem ) , who became the first person in Europe to receive the surgery following a heart attack in 2008 , said he is 'feeling stronger every day ' following the operation . Mr Large added : ‘ This is a very exciting development . By enabling the safe use of this kind of donor hearts , we could significantly increase the total number of heart transplants each year , saving hundreds of lives. ’ The first successful transplant carried out using the Organ Care System – also known as ‘ heart in a box ’ – took place in St Vincent ’ s Hospital in Sydney last year , involving a heart that had stopped beating for 20 minutes . The system allows the donor heart to be connected to a sterile circuit of blood which restores the heartbeat and keeps it warm , limiting the adverse effects associated with previous methods which saw hearts kept on ice . Using the preservative solution and the heart in a box , the organ is able to be reanimated , preserved and assessed until it is ready to go into a recipient . It is not clear how long after it stopped beating that the doctors at Papworth restarted the heart . They used ultrasound to assess the function of the restarted heart for 50 minutes before approving it for transplantation . They then removed it from the donor , placed it in the heart-in-a-box machine which perfused the organ with blood and nutrients , and kept it beating for three hours until the operation went ahead . The Organ Care System ( OCS ) , developed by TransMedics , allows donor hearts to continue functioning in a near-perfect state outside the body during transport and until it is placed into the body of the recipient . ‘ This is a phenomenal achievement , ’ said Simon Messer , cardiothoracic transplant registrar at the hospital . ‘ People who previously would not get a heart transplant will now be able to have them. ’ More than 250 patients in Britain are on the waiting list for heart transplants , and around 900,000 people in the UK are living with heart failure , according to the British Heart Foundation . Mr Messer added : ‘ Currently patients can wait over three years for a heart transplant . But less than half of the people on the waiting list will be transplanted . ‘ About 13 per cent die while they are waiting , and around 30 per cent are removed from the list , because they become too unwell to have the operation . ’
Surgeons successfully carried out UK 's first non-beating heart transplant . Heart was placed on Organ Care System to maintain quality before the op . Huseyin Ulucan , Last year , said he is 'feeling stronger every day ' after the surgery . New procedure could increase heart transplants by up to 25 per cent in UK .