Michael Barbella, Managing Editor07.25.23
Paragonix Technologies Inc. is marking a milestone achievement with Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston). The company's Paragonix SherpaPak Cardiac Transport System was used to successfully transport a donor heart over 2,506 total nautical miles.
Beginning in Juneau, Alaska, and ending in Boston, the procurement distance beats previous distance records to safely deliver a donor heart to a recipient.
Recent policy changes in the U.S. organ allocation system have provided for improved efficiency, fairness and equity, and have also led to a concomitant increased need to protect donor organs over broader geographic distances. Conventional ice-based methods of transporting organs over greater geographic distances bear the risk of organ damage, such as due to exposure to temperatures at or below freezing. Advanced organ preservation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared Paragonix SherpaPak Cardiac Transport System is designed to protect organs during transport.
“Traditionally, the longer an organ spends between donors, the greater the risk of complications,” said Dr. David D’Alessandro, M.D., surgical director, Heart Transplant Program, at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Five years ago, I could never have imagined this journey being possible. The fact that we were able to transport this organ safely and successfully over such a long distance is a testament to the value of Advanced Organ Preservation and the dedication of everyone involved. By continuing to push the boundaries in this area, we can help to ensure that more patients in need have access to life-saving donor organs, regardless of where they are located.”
The Paragonix SherpaPak Cardiac Transport System is an FDA-cleared and CE-marked Advanced Organ Preservation device specifically designed to control donor heart preservation, providing physicians with stable temperature maintenance technology. The transport in the device is accompanied by real-time data monitoring and supported by HIPAA-compliant communication channels via the Paragonix mobile App. The Paragonix SherpaPak has protected nearly 3,000 donor hearts and has been adopted by more than 80 transplant centers worldwide.
“With the shortage of organs available for transplant, and an ever-growing number of patients on the wait list, it is critical that we enable centers to access organs from as many geographies as possible,” Paragonix Technologies President/CEO Dr. Lisa Anderson stated. “We are proud to have aided the team at MGH in this monumental case that has allowed them to bring a life-saving heart from over 2,500 miles to a patient in their care.”
Paragonix Technologies develops, manufactures, and provides service to the organ transplant industry, establishing a novel approach to preservation that represents a significant improvement over the traditional standard of care. Paragonix Advanced Organ Preservation devices combine clinically-proven, stable temperature techniques with digital tracking and monitoring technologies to provide clinicians complete control and oversight throughout the donor organ journey. The clinical impact of Paragonix preservation technology is reinforced by the GUARDIAN clinical registries, the largest database of organ preservation data in the world that analyzes post-transplant outcomes in transplant recipients.
Beginning in Juneau, Alaska, and ending in Boston, the procurement distance beats previous distance records to safely deliver a donor heart to a recipient.
Recent policy changes in the U.S. organ allocation system have provided for improved efficiency, fairness and equity, and have also led to a concomitant increased need to protect donor organs over broader geographic distances. Conventional ice-based methods of transporting organs over greater geographic distances bear the risk of organ damage, such as due to exposure to temperatures at or below freezing. Advanced organ preservation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared Paragonix SherpaPak Cardiac Transport System is designed to protect organs during transport.
“Traditionally, the longer an organ spends between donors, the greater the risk of complications,” said Dr. David D’Alessandro, M.D., surgical director, Heart Transplant Program, at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Five years ago, I could never have imagined this journey being possible. The fact that we were able to transport this organ safely and successfully over such a long distance is a testament to the value of Advanced Organ Preservation and the dedication of everyone involved. By continuing to push the boundaries in this area, we can help to ensure that more patients in need have access to life-saving donor organs, regardless of where they are located.”
The Paragonix SherpaPak Cardiac Transport System is an FDA-cleared and CE-marked Advanced Organ Preservation device specifically designed to control donor heart preservation, providing physicians with stable temperature maintenance technology. The transport in the device is accompanied by real-time data monitoring and supported by HIPAA-compliant communication channels via the Paragonix mobile App. The Paragonix SherpaPak has protected nearly 3,000 donor hearts and has been adopted by more than 80 transplant centers worldwide.
“With the shortage of organs available for transplant, and an ever-growing number of patients on the wait list, it is critical that we enable centers to access organs from as many geographies as possible,” Paragonix Technologies President/CEO Dr. Lisa Anderson stated. “We are proud to have aided the team at MGH in this monumental case that has allowed them to bring a life-saving heart from over 2,500 miles to a patient in their care.”
Paragonix Technologies develops, manufactures, and provides service to the organ transplant industry, establishing a novel approach to preservation that represents a significant improvement over the traditional standard of care. Paragonix Advanced Organ Preservation devices combine clinically-proven, stable temperature techniques with digital tracking and monitoring technologies to provide clinicians complete control and oversight throughout the donor organ journey. The clinical impact of Paragonix preservation technology is reinforced by the GUARDIAN clinical registries, the largest database of organ preservation data in the world that analyzes post-transplant outcomes in transplant recipients.