HTA Details
Portable Normothermic Cardiac Perfusion System in Donation After Cardiocirculatory Death
- Publication date
-
2020-March-06
- Status
- Final
- Topic Area
- Cardiac Cardiovascular
- Recommendation
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Final Recommendation :
- Ontario Health, based on guidance from the Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee, recommends publicly funding portable normothermic cardiac perfusion systems for use in heart transplant following donation after cardiocirculatory death, conditional on Health Canada approval
- Ministry Response
-
The Ministry of Health has accepted this recommendation.
-
For people who have heart failure at its most advanced stage, a heart transplant is the most effective treatment. However, there is a chronic shortage of hearts available for transplant.
A technology called a portable normothermic cardiac perfusion system may expand which donors are eligible to donate hearts, making more available.
This health technology assessment looked at the safety and effectiveness of this new technology for transporting hearts donated after cardiocirculatory death (when the donor’s heart has stopped beating and there is no longer blood flow or a pulse). The report considers whether the technology is cost-effective, the budget impact of publicly funding the technology, as well as the experiences, preferences and values of people waiting for a heart transplant, people who have received one, and family members of organ donors.
Last Updated: February 24, 2026
