Patent ID: 8304181

Claim:
A method of evaluating an ex vivo heart for transplantation suitability comprising: a) placing a heart in a protective chamber of an organ care system, b) connecting the heart to a perfusion fluid circuit to perfuse fluid to the heart, c) pumping a perfusion fluid to the heart, d) monitoring lactate in the heart to assess heart status, said monitoring comprising: i) measuring a first lactate value of the perfusion fluid in an arterial conduit, ii) measuring a first lactate value of the perfusion fluid in a venous conduit, and iii) comparing the first lactate value in the arterial conduit to the first lactate value in the venous conduit to measure a first V-A lactate differential; iv) repeating steps i)-iii) one or more additional times, at later points in time, to measure subsequent V-A lactate differentials over time; e) correlating the change between the V-A lactate differentials over time with suitability of the heart for transplantation.