Study: SherpaPak Improves One-Year Survival in Heart Transplant Patients

Forget the icepacks.

Paragonix Technologies Inc.’s SherpaPak Cardiac Transport System is a more effective way of transporting the body’s most vital organ, according to study data. A multi-center trial commissioned by Paragonix focused on one-year patient outcomes following heart transplant surgery. 

“With advanced technology like the SherpaPak, we can now demonstrate that we provide advanced care and improved outcomes for the vulnerable patient population of heart transplant recipients. With over a third of all U.S. transplant centers utilizing the SherpaPak device, we look forward to supporting transplant centers across the U.S. and Europe as they transition to this technology as the standard of care,” said Dr. Lisa Anderson, CEO and president of Paragonix.

The study compared the use of the Paragonix SherpaPak Cardiac Transport System, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-cleared and CE-marked donor heart transport and preservation device, to the use of conventional cold storage using ice in the preservation of donor hearts destined for transplantation. The trial focused on post-transplant outcomes and survival, and utilized data collected by the GUARDIAN-Heart Registry, the world’s largest clinical database specifically dedicated to heart preservation.
 
The U.S. Multi Center 1-year Transplant Survival Analysis of the GUARDIAN Registry included 569 adult patients who received heart transplants between October 2015 and January 2022. The analysis showed a statistically significant 72 percent reduction p=0.005) in Severe Primary Graft Dysfunction (PGD) rates.^1,2 The one-year survival rate in patients where traditional cold storage was used was 88.7 percent.¹ In contrast, the one-year survival rate in patients where the SherpaPak was used was 96.4 percent, an 8.7 percent increase (p=0.03) in one-year survival.¹

“The results of this study suggest that using ice to preserve and transport donor hearts is a potentially inferior method for organ preservation,” said Dr. Andreas Zuckermann, the EU principal GUARDIAN investigator, director of Cardiac Transplantation, and associate professor of Surgery Medical University of Vienna.  “A 96.4 percent one-year survival rate in the propensity matched analysis utilizing the SherpaPak is an encouraging sign that this technology for advanced organ preservation is having an impact on the clinical outcomes of heart transplantation. Advanced preservation of donor hearts should be a seriously considered by all transplant centers when assessing the impact on clinical outcomes outlined in this research.”
 
Additionally, several other post-operative improvements were noted by the propensity matched study in favor of the SherpaPak cohort:

• 38.5 percent reduction in all post-transplant MCS (mechanical circulatory support) (p=0.03).¹
• 66.3 percent reduction in post-transplant ECMO (extra corporeal membrane oxygenation) /VAD (ventricular assist device) (p=0.02)¹
• 59.7 percent reduction in newly placed IABP (intra-aortic balloon pump) (p=0.02)¹
• 71.9 percent reduction in Severe PGD (primary graft dysfunction) (p=0.005)^1,2

 
“Our multi-center registry study was intended to assess the benefits of advanced heart preservation. We report a one-year post transplant survival in matched cohorts from 89 percent in the traditional cold storage to 96 percent (p=0.03) in the SherpaPak cohort,” said Dr. Marzia Leacche, Richard DeVos Endowed Chair for Heart Transplant and MCS, surgical director, at Spectrum Health. “Innovations in patient care are rarely this impactful. We hypothesize that the survival benefit is due to reduction in the incidence of severe PGD (from 12 percent vs. 3 percent, p=0.005)^1,2 and reduced need for mechanical circulatory support after transplant.”
 
“I look forward to contributing more to this important research as the GUARDIAN-Heart registry continues to grow, and as the trends we see within the data continue to point toward an improvement in care,” said Dr. David D’Alessandro, U.S. principal investigator of the GUARDIAN study, associate chief of Clinical Operations in Cardiac Surgery, and associate professor of Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital.
 
Paragonix Technologies markets organ transportation devices that safeguard organs during the journey between donor and recipient patients. Its devices incorporate clinically proven and medically trusted cold preservation techniques in a suspension system to provide unprecedented physical and thermal protection. Paragonix SherpaPak Cardiac Transport System (CTS) has preserved more than 1,500 hearts since start of clinical use in 2018. The Paragonix SherpaPak CTS provides a sterile, temperature and pressure-controlled environment for organs traveling between operating rooms. 
 
References
¹ Leacche et al., ISHLT Presentation 2022, Data on file
² Kobashigawa et al, Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, 2014