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’
uk first organ care system huseyin ulucan 60
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, 60, said he is 'feeling stronger every day' after the surgery . new procedure could increase heart transplants by up to 25 per cent in uk 