Simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation from donation after cardiac death: successful long-term outcomes

OBJECTIVE: The outcomes of simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) transplantation with donor organs procured from donation after cardiac death (DCD) are compared with transplants performed with donor organs recovered from donation after brain death (DBD). SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Concerns exist regarding the utilization of pancreata obtained from DCD donors. While it is known that DCD kidneys will have a higher rate of DGF, long-term functional graft survival data for DCD pancreata have not been reported. METHODS: A retrospective review of all DCD SPK transplants performed at a single center was undertaken. RESULTS: Patient, pancreas, and kidney survival at 5 years were similar between DCD and DBD organs. Pancreas function and outcomes were indistinguishable between the 2 modes of procurement. As expected, the DCD kidneys had an elevated rate of DGF, which had no significant long-term clinical impact. CONCLUSION: SPK transplantation using selected DCD donors is a safe and viable method to expand the organ pool for transplantation.     

Organ Donation and Utilization, 1995–2004: Entering the Collaborative Era

Continued progress in organ donation will help enable transplantation to alleviate the increasing incidence of end-stage organ disease. This article discusses the implementation and effect of the federally initiated Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative; it then reviews organ donation data, living and deceased, from 1995 to 2004. It is the first annual report of the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients to include national data following initiation of the collaborative in 2003. Prior to that, annual growth in deceased donation was 2%–4%; in 2004, after initiation of the collaborative, deceased donation increased 11%. Identification and dissemination of best practices for organ donation have emphasized new strategies for improved consent, including revised approaches to minority participation, timing of requests and team design. The number of organs recovered from donation after cardiac death (DCD) grew from 64 in 1995 to 391 in 2004. While efforts are ongoing to develop methodologies for identifying expanded criteria donors (ECD) for organs other than kidney, it is clear DCD and ECD raise questions regarding cost and recovery. The number of living donor organs increased from 3493 in 1995 to 7002 in 2004; data show trends toward more living unrelated donors and those providing non-directed donations.     

Current status and recent advances of liver transplantation from donation after cardiac death

The last decade saw increased organ donation activity from donors after cardiac death (DCD). This contributed to a signif icant proportion of transplant activity. Despite certain drawbacks, liver transplantation from DCD donors continues to supplement the donor pool on the backdrop of a severe organ shortage. Understanding the pathophysiology has provided the basis for modulation of DCD organs that has been proven to be effective outside liver transplantation but remains experimental in liver transplantation models. Research continues on how best to further increase the utility of DCD grafts. Most of the work has been carried out exploring the use of organ preservation using machine assisted perfusion. Both ex-situ and in-situ organ perfusion systems are tested in the liver transplantation setting with promising results. Additional techniques involved pharmacological manipulation of the donor, graft and the recipient. Ethical barriers and end-of-life care pathways are obstacles to widespread clinical application of some of the recent advances to practice. It is likely that some of the DCD offers are in fact probably "prematurely" of-fered without ideal donor management or even prior to brain death being established. The absolute benef its of DCD exist only if this form of donation supplements the existing deceased donor pool; hence, it is worthwhile revisiting organ donation process enabling us to identify counter remedial measures.     

基于移植协调员角度的心脏死亡器官捐献工作经验

目的 总结基于移植协调员角度的心脏死亡器官捐献(DCD)工作经验.方法 收集2010年3-10月间潜在DCD供者的临床资料,通过自定义4个概念:潜在DCD供者、有效DCD供者、DCD成功率及DCD回绝率,对DCD工作进行量化分析.结果 发现并确认了16例潜在DCD供者,并成功实施DCD 5例,DCD成功率为31.3 ％(5/16).11例未成功捐献的潜在DCD供者中,其原因为家属拒绝捐献3例(占27.3％),家属捐献意见不统一3例(占27.3％),家属同意捐献但由于各种纠纷或与各部门协调原因耽误器官获取时间造成器官质量不符合捐献标准4例(占36.4％),以及器官评估不合格1例(9.1％).DCD回绝率为37.50％(6/16).结论 潜在DCD供者的人数还有待提高;移植协调员在人体器官捐献工作中具有重要作用,沟通技巧、专业知识仍需要进一步培养;人体器官捐献工作不能仅依靠医疗卫生部门、省红十字会,需要行政、交通、司法等各部门的协同参与.     

Simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplantation from organ donation after cardiac death

Background: The concept of organ donation after cardiac death (DCD) historically precedes the current practice of organ procurement from heartbeating donors meeting the brainstem death criteria. DCD has not gained widespread interest, however, due partly to initial fears that transplantation of such organs leads to suboptimal outcome. Methods: Available data on long‐term outcomes following simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplant (SPK) from DCD donors were reviewed, and it was found that the long‐term outcome is comparable to SPK from heartbeating donors. Australia’s first SPK from a DCD donor was performed. Results: The patient received a kidney and a pancreas from a young healthy donor after cardiac death, and at the time of writing was well with functioning grafts. Conclusion: SPK from donation after cardiac death is safe and should continue to be available for patients in need.     

Controlled donation after cardiac death: a European perspective

Terminally ill patients who do not meet brain death criteria and die of cardiac arrest after withdrawal of life support may be considered as potential organ donors: such donors are referred to as controlled donors after cardiac death (DCD). Controlled DCD donors are increasingly being used in Northern Europe and the United States in an effort to expand the donor pool. Ethical concerns regarding the diagnosis of death based on cardiopulmonary rather than neurological criteria have largely been resolved over the past decade. Follow-up studies of recipients by several transplant centers have shown that functioning controlled DCD kidneys are equivalent to kidneys from conventional brain-dead donors with respect to long-term prognosis. Concerns about long-term repercussions for the higher incidence of delayed graft function with DCD kidneys are not supported by the current evidence. The donor pool may be further expanded by transplanting selected kidneys from older DCD, in particular for the increasing population of older kidney transplant candidates. Successful transplantation of these delicate organs is possible when donors and recipients are carefully managed by well-trained, motivated, and effectively collaborating transplant personnel.     

儿童心脏死亡器官捐献的现状与研究进展

心脏死亡器官捐献(DCD)已经成为增加供器官来源的重要途径之一,儿童DCD也逐渐得到重视。儿童DCD不仅可以扩大供器官来源,而且对儿童器官移植具有重要意义。本文就儿童DCD的现状和研究进展作一综述,重点介绍儿童DCD的历史、儿童DCD供器官分配、移植预后、伦理问题等,以期为我国儿童DCD工作提供参考。     

The Impact of Variation in Donation After Cardiac Death Policies Among Donor Hospitals: A Regional Analysis

The Joint Commission requires all hospitals have a policy regarding donation after cardiac death. To this date however, a quantitative analysis of adult hospital donation after cardiac death (DCD) policies and its impact on transplantation outcomes has not been reported. Specific characteristics for DCD polices were identified from 90 of the 164 (54.9%) hospitals within the New England Organ Bank's donor service area. Forty‐five policies (50.0%) allow family members to be present during withdrawal of life‐sustaining therapy (WLST) whereas eight (8.9%) prohibit this. Seventeen policies (18.9%) require WLST to occur in the operating room (OR); 20 (22.2%) specify a location outside of the OR. Fifty‐six (62.2%) policies fail to state the method of determining death; however, some require arterial line (15 policies, 16.6%) and/or EKG (10 policies, 11.1%). These variables were not associated with organ recovery, utilization or donor ischemia time. Our regional analysis highlights the high degree of variability of hospital DCD policies, which may contribute to misunderstanding and confusion among providers and patients that may influence acceptance of this mode of donation.     

Organ Donation and Transplantation Statistics in Belgium for 2012 and 2013

BackgroundThe 2012 and 2013 solid organ transplantation statistics were presented during the annual meeting of the Belgian Transplant Society.MethodsAll data presented were collected from Eurotransplant International Foundation and/or from all individual Belgian transplant centers.ResultsIt was demonstrated that the highest number of deceased donors detected (1310) from which 47.8% were an effective organ donor that corresponded to 29 per million inhabitants (pmi) in 2012 and 27.4 pmi in 2013. Out of 626 effective deceased organ donors, 491 (79%) were donors after brain death (DBD) and 135 (21%) donors after circulatory death (DCD), respectively. The majority (125/135; 93%) of DCD donors were DCD Maastricht category III donors and there were 7 (5%) donations following euthanasia. Family refusal tended to be lower for DCD (10.4%) compared to DBD donors (13.4%). Despite the increasing DCD donation rate, DBD donation remains stable in Belgium. The donor age is still increasing, reaching a median age of 53 years (range 0–90). Spontaneous intracranial bleeding (39.3%) and cranio-cerebral trauma (25%) remained the most frequent reasons of death. The number of living related kidney transplantations (57 in 2012 and 63 in 2013) followed the international trend albeit in Belgium it is still very limited. Nevertheless this activity could explain that the number of patients waiting for kidney transplantation (770) reached an absolute minimum in 2013. Except the reduced waiting list for lung transplantation (from 119 patients in 2011 to 85 in 2013), the waiting list remained stable for the other organs but almost 200 patients still died while on the waiting list.ConclusionsBelgium demonstrated the highest number of effective organ donors that corresponded to 29 per million inhabitants (pmi) in 2012 and 27.4 pmi in 2013. Thus far, and in contrast with other countries, there is no erosion of DBD in the DCD donor organ pool, but it is the important responsibility of all transplant centers and donor hospitals to avoid a substitution from DBD by DCD donors.     

Organ Donation and Utilization in the United States: 1998–2007

Organ transplantation remains the only life-saving therapy for many patients with organ failure. Despite the work of the Organ Donation and Transplant Collaboratives, and the marked increases in deceased donors early in the effort, deceased donors only rose by 67 from 2006 and the number of living donors declined during the same time period. There continues to be increases in the use of organs from donors after cardiac death (DCD) and expanded criteria donors (ECD). This year has seen a major change in the way organs are offered with increased patient safety measures in those organ offers made by OPOs using DonorNet^©. Unfortunately, the goals of 75% conversion rates, 3.75 organs transplanted per donor, 10% of all donors from DCD sources and 20% growth of transplant center volume have yet to be reached across all donation service areas (DSAs) and transplant centers; however, there are DSAs that have not only met, but exceeded, these goals. Changes in organ preservation techniques took place this year, partly due to expanding organ acceptance criteria and increasing numbers of ECDs and DCDs. Finally, the national transplant environment has changed in response to increased regulatory oversight and new requirements for donation and transplant provider organizations.     

A More Than 20% Increase in Deceased-Donor Organ Procurement and Transplantation Activity After the Use of Donation After Circulatory Death

Background

Organ procurement and transplant activity from controlled donation after circulatory death (DCD) was evaluated over an 11-year period to determine whether this program influenced the transplant and donation after brain death (DBD) activities.

Material and Methods

Deceased donor (DD) procurement and transplant data were prospectively collected in a local database for retrospective review.

Results

There was an increasing trend in the potential and actual DCD numbers over time. DCD accounted for 21.9% of the DD pool over 11 years, representing 23.7% and 24.2% of the DD kidney and liver pool, respectively. The DBD retrieval and transplant activity increased during the same time period. Mean conversion rate turning potential into effective DCD donors was 47.3%. Mean DCD donor age was 54.6 years (range, 3–83). Donors ≥60 years old made up 44.1% of the DCD pool. Among referred donors, reasons for nondonation were medical contraindications (33.7%) and family refusals (19%). Mean organ yield per DCD donor was 2.3 organs. Mean total procurement warm ischemia time was 19.5 minutes (range, 6–39). In 2012, 17 DCD and 37 DBD procurements were performed in the Liege region, which has slightly >1 million inhabitants.

Conclusions

This DCD program implementation enlarged the DD pool and did not compromise the development of DBD programs. The potential DCD pool might be underused and seems to be a valuable organ donor source.     

ASTS Recommended Practice Guidelines for Controlled Donation after Cardiac Death Organ Procurement and Transplantation

The American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) champions efforts to increase organ donation. Controlled donation after cardiac death (DCD) offers the family and the patient with a hopeless prognosis the option to donate when brain death criteria will not be met. Although DCD is increasing, this endeavor is still in the midst of development. DCD protocols, recovery techniques and organ acceptance criteria vary among organ procurement organizations and transplant centers. Growing enthusiasm for DCD has been tempered by the decreased yield of transplantable organs and less favorable posttransplant outcomes compared with donation after brain death. Logistics and ethics relevant to DCD engender discussion and debate among lay and medical communities. Regulatory oversight of the mandate to increase DCD and a recent lawsuit involving professional behavior during an attempted DCD have fueled scrutiny of this activity. Within this setting, the ASTS Council sought best-practice guidelines for controlled DCD organ donation and transplantation. The proposed guidelines are evidence based when possible. They cover many aspects of DCD kidney, liver and pancreas transplantation, including donor characteristics, consent, withdrawal of ventilatory support, operative technique, ischemia times, machine perfusion, recipient considerations and biliary issues. DCD organ transplantation involves unique challenges that these recommendations seek to address.     

Increasing Organ Donations After Cardiac Death by Increasing DCD Support Among Health Care Professionals: A Case Report

This case report focuses on the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Organ Procurement Organization (UWHC-OPO) efforts to produce a verifiable and demonstrable increase in organ donations by developing a replicable, transferable and feasible model intervention for increasing health care professionals' support for donation after cardiac death (DCD). A grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services funded a 3-year study allowing the UWHC-OPO to (i) identify barriers to and opportunities for increasing DCD support among those involved in the donation request process, (ii) implement this better understanding of these support factors in the creation of intervention materials designed to increase knowledge of and support for DCD and finally (iii) to track and document the progress made in increasing knowledge, support, number of hospitals with DCD protocols, actual requests made and number of DCD donors. The results of the model intervention were extremely positive, showing lasting increases in DCD knowledge and support, adoption of DCD protocols and referrals in the two tracking survey stages following the intervention. Perhaps most notably, DCD donor numbers within the UWHC-OPO region increased 93% in the year following the intervention and 179% to date.     

Extracorporeal support for organ donation after cardiac death effectively expands the donor pool

BACKGROUND: We sought to evaluate the effect on short-term outcomes of normothermic, extracorporeal perfusion (ECMO) for donation of abdominal organs for transplantation after cardiac death (DCD). Study parameters included increase in number of donors and organs, types of organs procured, and viability of kidneys transplanted. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical record data for all patients enrolled in our ECMO-supported DCD donor protocol between 10/1/2000 to 2/01/2004. We also reviewed the records for all patients undergoing organ donation after brain-death (DBD) during the study period at our institution. Recipient data were obtained and analyzed for all kidneys procured from both groups. RESULTS: Twenty patients were enrolled in our DCD protocol and underwent attempted organ donation. Fifteen patients completed the protocol; 3 maintained cardiac function throughout the prescribed 60 minutes after withdrawal of life support, and two patients' organs were deemed unsuitable for transplantation. Fourteen (70%) of the DCD donor patients originated on the trauma service and six (30%) were from other clinical services. The DCD program increased the potential donor pool by 33% (61 versus 81 patients) and the number of kidneys transplanted by 24% (100 versus 124). A total of 24 kidney, 5 liver, and 1 pancreas transplants were performed with these organs. Two of 24 (8.3%) DCD kidneys had delayed graft function. There were no perioperative rejection episodes or deaths. CONCLUSION: The implementation of a DCD protocol using extracorporeal perfusion increased the potential organ donor pool at our institution by 33%. This was accomplished without short term adverse effect on organ function compared with kidneys transplanted from DBD donors.     

Potential for donation after circulatory death heart transplantation in the United States: Retrospective analysis of a limited UNOS dataset

Donation after Circulatory Death (DCD) is an alternative to Donation after Brain death (DBD), and is a growing strategy for organ procurement in the United States(US). The purpose of this analysis was to review the number and quality of hearts in one United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) Region that were not utilized as a potential consequence of nonheart DCD donation. We retrospectively identified all successful US DCD solid organ donors from 1/2011 to 3/1/2017, defined an ideal heart donor by age and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and then reviewed the donor charts of unused hearts in New York and Vermont (UNOS Region 9). Of 8302 successful DCD donors across the United States, 5033 (61%) were between 18 and 49 years of age, and 872 had a screening echocardiogram, with 573 (66%) measuring an EF >50%. Of these 573 potential donors, 44 (7.7%) were from Region 9. Detailed donor chart review identified 36 ideal heart donors, 24 (66.7%) with anoxic brain injury. Trends in Region 9 DCD donation increased from 4 unused hearts in 2011, to 13 in 2016. In the context of severe organ scarcity, these data indicate that implementation of DCD heart transplantation in the United States would improve overall donation rates and provide a pathway to utilize these ideal donor hearts.     

Organ Donation After Cardiac Death in the Middle East

Introduction

The shortage of organ donors along with the increased number of waiting recipients have created the need for new strategies to expand the organ pool: living donors, split livers, domino livers, and organs from donations after cardiac death (DCD). The purpose of this article was to focus upon aspects of DCD application in the religious, traditional, ethical, and legal aspects of the Arab world.

Background

DCD can increase the donor pool by 15%-25%. Several ethical, legal, and social concerns need to be addressed to make DCD more widely accepted by the general population in Western countries as well as in the Middle East. Organs from DCD donors have been transplanted since the 1960s. As soon as brain death criteria were published in 1968, organ retrieval from cadaveric heart-beating donors predominated. Donation after brain death (DBD) almost completely replaced DCD. In the 1990s, the organ shortage led to DCD in many countries, but not in the Arab world. DCD is still not accepted by most in the Arab world due to religious, ethical, social, and legal issues.

Conclusion

DCD in the Arab world is more complicated than in Western countries. It should be re-evaluated and thoroughly reviewed with the new criteria for DCD and its implementation in our region.     

常温局部灌注在受控心脏死亡肝移植供体中的应用

目前全球器官移植领域所面临的仍是供体短缺的主要问题。由于受体需求量和标准供体的数量的严重不平衡，外科医生们将目光转移到心脏死亡供体（DCD）。相比于脑死亡供体（DBD），DCD面临的主要问题是经历更长的热缺血时间（WIT），以致患者术后并发症发生率增加，尤其是胆道并发症。受控心脏死亡供体（cDCD）是指在符合患者或家属意愿的情况下有计划地退出维持生命的治疗，在一段“无接触”时间后（通常为5 min），宣布患者大脑循环永久缺失，同时快速进行器官恢复。由于使用常规器官保存方法保存的DCD移植物的移植效果不尽如人意，近年来，常温灌注技术所展现出的优势在移植过程中愈发明显，逐渐引起外科医生和科学家们的关注。与活体肝移植以及DBD肝移植不同，DCD在宣布死亡前无法取出移植物。而在常温局部灌注（NRP）中，外科医生们能够在宣布死亡后阻断流向大脑的血液，并通过体外膜氧合启动器官的热灌注，在供体体内恢复供体肝脏的功能，使肝脏产生胆汁并清除乳酸。这一过程为供体肝脏离开供体和移植前的各项指标监测和优化提供宝贵时间。目前已有多项临床研究表明，NRP作为一种原位器官修复技术能够使cDCD供体肝脏的移植效果与DBD供体相近。另外，一些研究者还开发了多种灌注技术的联合应用，包括NRP与机器灌注（MP）以及双低温氧合机灌注（D-HOPE）的联合使用，均展现出良好的移植效果，为肝移植供体保存提供更多可能性。虽然许多学者认为NRP是一种获取更多高质量器官的保存方法，但有研究者质疑该技术的伦理问题。他们认为该技术违背死亡捐赠规则，NRP灌注程序中所涉及的操作可能导致患者的死亡，因此，确保患者的循环以及呼吸的永久性不可恢复状态以及在NRP期间确保脑部循环的缺失尤其重要。鉴于NRP在移植领域的重要性，笔者对NRP技术在cDCD中的应用进行归纳总结。     

Impact of Machine Perfusion Preservation of Liver Grafts From Donation After Cardiac Death

Because of the critical shortage of deceased donor grafts, using a donation after cardiac death (DCD) donor is an important resource. However, the ischemic damage of those DCD grafts jeopardizes organ viability during cold storage. Maintaining organ viability after donation until transplantation is important for optimal graft function and survival. This review describes the effective preservation in transplantation for DCD livers. Concepts and development of machine perfusion for DCD liver grafts to reduce ischemia/reperfusion injury are discussed. Despite the fact that hypothermic machine perfusion might be superior to static cold preservation, DCD livers are exposed to hypothermia-induced damage. Recently, some groups introduced the beneficial effects of normothermic or subnormothermic machine perfusion in DCD liver preservation and transplantation.     

A multidisciplinary organ donor council and performance improvement initiative can improve donation outcomes

The shortage of organs available for transplantation has become a national crisis. The Department of Health and Human Services established performance benchmarks for timely notification, donation after cardiac death (DCD), and conversion rates (total donors/eligible deaths) to guide organ procurement organizations and donor hospitals in their attempts to increase the number of transplantable organs. In January 2007, an organ donor council (ODC) with an ongoing performance improvement case review process was created at a Level I trauma center. A critical care devastating brain injury protocol and a DCD policy were instituted. Best performance benchmarks were evaluated before and after establishment of the ODC. At our center, the total number of referrals increased from 96 in 2006 to 139 in 2007 and 143 in 2008. Timely notification rate increased from 64 per cent in 2006 to 83 per cent in 2007 and 2008 (P < 0.01). DCD rate increased from 0 per cent in 2006 to 13 per cent in 2007 (P = 0.06) and 10 per cent in 2008 (P = 0.09). Conversion rate increased from 53 per cent in 2007 to 78 per cent in 2008 (P = 0.05) and 73 per cent in 2009 (P = 0.16). Organs transplanted per eligible death trended upward from 1.80 in 2007 to 2.54 in 2009 (P = 0.20). As a consequence, the establishment of a multidisciplinary ODC and performance improvement initiative demonstrated improved donation outcomes.     

Donation after cardiac death as a strategy to increase deceased donor liver availability

OBJECTIVE: This study examines donation after cardiac death (DCD) practices and outcomes in liver transplantation. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Livers procured from DCD donors have recently been used to increase the number of deceased donors and bridge the gap between limited organ supply and the pool of waiting list candidates. Comprehensive evaluation of this practice and its outcomes has not been previously reported. METHODS: A national cohort of all DCD and donation after brain-death (DBD) liver transplants between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2004 was identified in the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients. Time to graft failure (including death) was modeled by Cox regression, adjusted for relevant donor and recipient characteristics. RESULTS: DCD livers were used for 472 (2%) of 24,070 transplants. Annual DCD liver activity increased from 39 in 2000 to 176 in 2004. The adjusted relative risk of DCD graft failure was 85% higher than for DBD grafts (relative risk, 1.85; 95% confidence interval, 1.51-2.26; P < 0.001), corresponding to 3-month, 1-year, and 3-year graft survival rates of 83.0%, 70.1%, and 60.5%, respectively (vs. 89.2%, 83.0%, and 75.0% for DBD recipients). There was no significant association between transplant program DCD liver transplant volume and graft outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The annual number of DCD livers used for transplant has increased rapidly. However, DCD livers are associated with a significantly increased risk of graft failure unrelated to modifiable donor or recipient factors. Appropriate recipients for DCD livers have not been fully characterized and recipient informed consent should be obtained before use of these organs.