Paragonix Technologies presented new clinical data at the American Transplant Congress (ATC) on the successful use of the Paragonix SherpaPak cardiac transport system for high-risk donor hearts at the Medical University of Vienna (Vienna, Austria), a leading European heart transplant centre.
A press release from the company details that Andreas Zuckermann (director of cardiac transplantation, Medical University of Vienna) presented a series of eight non-consecutive heart transplant cases involving donor hearts with extended ischaemic times that were preserved using the Paragonix SherpaPak cardiac transport system. Donor risk levels were calculated using the Eurotransplant (ET) donor risk score and recipient risks were calculated using the IMPACT score. For this series of cases, the median ET score was 18.4 (representing a 40% probability of donor heart acceptance), the median IMPACT score was 10 (representing a 19% expected mortality at one year) and the median ischaemic time was 4.8 hours.
According to the company statement, the authors concluded that the Paragonix SherpaPak cardiac transport system provided consistent temperature control during transportation of the grafts and can be successfully used with long ischaemic times and high-risk donor hearts.
Bill Edelman, chairman & CEO for Paragonix, comments in the press release: “We are delighted to see the continued release of clinical research data regarding the Paragonix SherpaPak cardiac transport system. This data expands on past publications of clinically complex heart transplant situations using the Paragonix SherpaPak cardiac transport system.”
The company says that Paragonix SherpaPak systems incorporate clinically proven and medically trusted cold preservation techniques in a novel suspension system to provide unprecedented physical and thermal protection. Paragonix SherpaPak cardiac transport system is the only commercially available US Fodd and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared and CE marked transport device for heart preservation. Paragonix is also developing transport devices for the lung, pancreas, kidney and liver designed to improve donor organ quality and extend donor organ preservation time.
