Dubai, July 31 -- A new discovery by Mayo Clinic researchers could mean more donor hearts are available for heart transplants, giving more people a second chance at life. In findings published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, a team led by Mayo Clinic cardiac surgeon Paul Tang, M.D., Ph.D., identified a biological process that contributes to donor heart injury during cold storage. The researchers found that a drug already used to treat heart conditions can prevent this damage.

Heart transplantation is the most effective treatment for end-stage heart failure, yet fewer than half of donor hearts are ultimately used. One major reason is the relatively short window for transplanting a donated heart into a patient, due to concerns over low...