Researchers say a new method for heart transplants could increase the number of available organs and save more lives.
研究人员表示，一种新的心脏移植方法可以增加可用器官的数量，从而挽救更多的生命。

Currently, most transplanted hearts come from donors who have been declared brain dead. This means the person no longer has signs of brain function after suffering a serious injury. In a brain death, machines can keep the body breathing and can provide oxygen to organs until they can be recovered and put on ice.
目前，大多数移植心脏来自于已被宣布脑死亡的捐赠者。脑死亡是指一个人在遭受严重伤害后不再具有大脑功能的迹象。在脑死亡中，机器可以维持身体呼吸，并为器官提供氧气，直到它们被取出并放在冰块上面。

But the new method would take hearts from medical cases known as circulatory deaths. These cases are also known as donation after circulatory death, or DCD.
但是这种新方法将从被称为循环系统死亡的病例中提取心脏。这些病例也被认为是循环系统死亡后捐赠。

Circulatory deaths happen when a person has a nonsurvivable brain injury, but still has some brain function. In these cases, family members can decide to withdraw all life support measures. This means organs go without oxygen for a time before they can be recovered.
当一个人遭受无法存活的脑损伤，但仍有一些脑功能时，就会发生循环系统死亡。在这些病例中，家庭成员可以决定撤销所有生命支持措施。这意味着器官在取出之前会有一段时间缺氧。

Currently, kidneys and some other organs are taken from people suffering circulatory deaths. But doctors have resisted using hearts because of possible organ damage from a lack of oxygen.
目前，肾脏和其它一些器官是从循环系统死亡病例身上摘取的。但是医生们拒绝使用这类病例的心脏，因为缺氧会对心脏造成损伤。

A new study suggests that hearts might also be recoverable from cases of circulatory deaths. Researchers at North Carolina's Duke University School of Medicine led the study, which was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
一项新的研究表明，循环死亡病例的心脏也可以被提取利用。北卡罗莱纳州杜克大学医学院的研究人员主导了这项研究，该研究最近发表在《新英格兰医学杂志》上。

The researchers said using hearts from circulatory deaths could possibly give thousands more patients a chance at a lifesaving transplant. And it could increase the number of donor hearts by 30 percent.
研究人员表示，使用循环系统死亡的心脏可能会让成千上万的患者有机会进行挽救生命的移植手术。它还可以使捐赠心脏的数量提高30%。

"Honestly if we could snap our fingers and just get people to use this, I think it probably would go up even more than that," transplant doctor Jacob Schroder told The Associated Press. "This really should be standard of care," he said.
移植医生雅各布·施罗德告诉美联社：“老实说，如果我们能打个响指，就能让人们使用这种疗法，我认为它可能会上升得更多。”他说：“这真的应该成为治疗的标准。”

With the new method, doctors can remove hearts in circulatory deaths and put them in a machine that "reanimates" them. This process pumps blood and nutrients through the heart as they are being transported. The organs can also be tested to make sure they are effectively functioning before they are transplanted.
有了这种新方法，医生可以提取循环系统死亡的心脏，并将其放入机器中使其“复苏”。这种方法会在运输过程中将血液和营养物质输送到心脏。这些器官还能在移植前进行检测，以确保它们的有效功能。

The study involved multiple hospitals around the country, as well as 180 transplant patients. Half the patients received DCD hearts and half were given hearts from brain-dead donors that were transported on ice.
这项研究涉及全国多家医院的180名移植患者。一半的患者移植了循环系统死亡的心脏，一半患者移植了通过冷藏运输的脑死亡捐赠者的心脏。

Survival rates six months later were about the same – 94 percent for recipients of cardiac-death donations and 90 percent for those who got the usual hearts, the researchers reported.
研究人员报告称，接受移植的患者在六个月后的存活率大致相同——心脏死亡捐赠的接受者存活率为94%，而那些获得普通心脏的人存活率为90%。

The findings are exciting and show the possibility "to increase fairness and equity in heart transplantation..." said Dr. Nancy Sweitzer. She is a heart transplant specialist at Washington University in St. Louis. Sweitzer, who was not part of the study, said she thinks the new method will permit more people with heart failure to receive lifesaving treatment.
南希·斯威策博士说，这些发现令人兴奋，并展示出了“提高心脏移植公平性的可能性……”她是美国圣路易斯州华盛顿大学的心脏移植专家。斯威策没有参与这项研究，她说她认为这种新方法将使更多的心力衰竭患者能够接受挽救生命的治疗。

In the U.S. last year, 4,111 heart transplants were performed. While this was a record number, it is not nearly enough to meet the need. Hundreds of thousands of people suffer from advanced heart failure but many are never offered a transplant. Still others die waiting for one.
去年，美国共进行了4111例心脏移植手术。虽然这是一个创纪录的数字，但远远不足以满足需求。数十万人患有晚期心力衰竭，但许多人从未接受过移植手术。还有一些人在等待中死亡。