A “Heartbox” that keeps donor organs viable for up to 24 hours is set to revolutionise transplants in the UK.
Transplant patients could get hearts from abroad as the box uses oxygenated blood to keep them stable for 12 to 24 hours, up from the current three to four hours.
Crucially, the hearts are kept on ice and no longer need to be beating.
Last night, the first patient in the UK to benefit from it hailed the device as a game-changer.
Sanjana Kochhar said: "I woke up feeling amazing."
The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle is leading a trial of the Heartbox in 15 centres across Europe.
Prof Stephen Clark, consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at the hospital, carried out the first UK Heartbox transplant.
He said: “We still try and transplant as soon as we can. But the hearts have been in there experimentally for 12-24 hours. That opens up a lot of possibilities for transplantation.
“We could potentially take hearts from France, Germany, you name it, with access to a much much bigger pool of donors.”
Emma Lawson, of NHS Blood and Transplant, said more than 300 people were waiting for a heart transplant. She said: “It is vital that we embrace new research to improve patients’ chances.”
'This heart has given me my life'
Sanjana Kochhar was the first patient in the UK to benefit from the new Heartbox.
She was 19 when she was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and an enlarged heart. She later suffered multiple organ failure and her condition became so severe that clinicians placed her on the super-urgent transplant list.
Now 29, she had a life-saving transplant at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle in November.
Sanjana, who lives in Liverpool,said: “I woke up feeling amazing. I’m eternally grateful for the second chance I’ve been given.”