Implementation of a mobile team to provide normothermic regional perfusion in controlled donation after circulatory death: Pilot study and first results

Normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) in controlled donation after circulatory death is becoming a popular method due to the favorable results of the grafts procured under this technique. This procedure requires experience, and, sometimes, the availability of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines to implement NRP is limited to tertiary hospitals. In order to provide support with NRP in controlled donation after circulatory death across the different hospitals of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, a mobile NRP team was created. In the first 18 months since its creation, the mobile NRP team participated in 33 procurements across nine different hospitals, representing 72% of all controlled donations after circulatory death in the Autonomous Community of Madrid. NRP was successfully performed in 29 (88%) cases, with a mean duration of 69 ± 27 minutes. A total of 39 kidneys, 12 livers, and 5 bilateral lungs were recovered and transplanted. None of the livers were discarded due to an elevation in transaminases during NRP. A mobile NRP team is a feasible option and, in our series, aided in the optimization and recovery of organs from donors after controlled circulatory death in centers where ECMO technology was not available.