First Approval for Heart Tissue Reuse in Japan

Jun 24, 2026 | News On Japan

A new treatment that uses healthy tissue from the heart removed from a transplant patient and transplants it into another patient has been approved in Japan for the first time, with the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center preparing to carry out the procedure.

According to the center, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has approved a treatment in which normal tissue, such as heart valves, is taken from a diseased heart removed from a patient undergoing a heart transplant and then transplanted into another patient.

It is the first time the treatment has been approved in Japan. The extracted tissue can also be frozen and stored, the center said.

In transplant medicine involving heart valves and other tissues, the number of available donated tissues has been limited compared with the number of patients needing treatment. The new method is expected to increase opportunities for transplantation.

"We hope that even a small increase in the supply of homografts will make it possible to deliver them to more people who need these treatments," said Kazuhiro Yamamoto, hospital director of the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center.

The center said it plans to promote the treatment method with cooperation from other medical institutions.

Source: YOMIURI

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