Apparatus for maintenance of harvested hearts for transplanting

A modular perfusion apparatus for maintenance and transport of an excised donor heart, comprising:

• a first module comprising
• a hard-shell reservoir and
• a removable support in the reservoir for positioning and mounting thereon the excised heart, said hard-shell reservoir having a pair of opposing defibrillator pads engaged with an inner surface of the hard-shell reservoir;
• a second module comprising a heat-exchanger in communication with an oxygenator;
• a first conduit infrastructure interconnecting the first module, the second module and an aorta of the excised donor heart, said first conduit infrastructure having a first centrifugal pump for pushing a perfusion solution from the reservoir of the first module to the second module and from the second module to the aorta;
• a second conduit infrastructure for connecting the reservoir with a right atrium and a left atrium of the excised donor heart, said second conduit infrastructure having a second centrifugal pump for pushing the perfusion solution from the reservoir to the right atrium and the left atrium;
• a third conduit infrastructure for connecting a pulmonary artery of the excised donor heart to the reservoir, said third conduit infrastructure having a third, bi-directional centrifugal pump;
• and
• a computer providing computer-controlled modulation of the third pump,
• wherein the third pump is configured and the computer is programmed to modulate the third pump to provide an afterload pressure at the pulmonary artery to resist a flow of the perfusion solution from the pulmonary artery.