Surgeons believe transplant device could save more patients - Spectrum News 1

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LOS ANGELES — From horseback riding and hiking to cliff jumping, Donald Stivers never let his heart condition hold him back.

Stivers has been pushing his body’s limits ever since he was a child. But the topic of his condition makes him emotional.

What You Need To Know

The medical device known as the OCS Heart System and nicknamed "Heart in a Box" allows medical teams to travel longer distances to retrieve heart organs

The device is currently under FDA review

Dr. Emerson with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center believes device could lead to an additional 15 transplant surgeries each year

Donald Stivers received a successful heart transplant with the help of the medical device and is looking forward to getting back to the great outdoors

"When I was small I used to pass out, turn blue, and my mother would find me and think I was dead and would have to revive me," said Stivers. "I did everything against doctor’s orders because I wanted to be a normal kid."

By the age of 58, Stiver’s heart condition began to catch up with him, leading him to a pacemaker and some medications. Now at 74 years old, he had to consider other options.

“My heart would go into v-fib, and I would be shocked," he said. "My heart was just wearing out."

With a 6-12-month prognosis to live, Stivers would have some additional challenges in finding a transplant in time due to his age and towering height of over six feet. That’s why Stivers volunteered for the OCS Heart clinical trial at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, which utilizes the OCS Heart System nicknamed a “Heart in a Box.”

According to Dr. Dominic Emerson, a transplant surgeon with the Smidt Heart Institute at the Medical Center, organs like the heart can only last about four hours on ice outside of the body. With the “Heart in a Box,” transplant surgeons have more time to recover an organ for transplant, which means they can go a farther distance to retrieve an organ for a patient in need.