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Heart Allocation for Sensitized Patients

Transplant programs in NY are sharing their sensitized patient protocols in an unprecedented effort to ensure some of the sickest patients in NY receive heart transplants. The NYCTC Policy and Operations Committee (POC) looked at issues relating to out-of-sequence heart allocation for sensitized patients. The Committee reviewed UNOS policy (3.7.1.1) which revealed a provision allowing the creation a region-wide policy to help formalize the process. NYCTC worked with the New England Organ Bank (NEOB) to obtain a copy of the New England Center for Heart Transplantation’s (NECHT) policy. In discussing the possibility of adapting the protocol for use in Region 9, the members shared their desensitization protocols as well as data from their centers on the number of cases, and determined that a region-wide policy was not warranted at this time.