Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Apr;39(4):e68-76.
doi: 10.1016/j.ejcts.2010.11.049. Epub 2011 Jan 12.

Donor cause of brain death and related time intervals: does it affect outcome after lung transplantation?

Shana Wauters  1 , Geert M Verleden, Ann Belmans, Willy Coosemans, Paul De Leyn, Philippe Nafteux, Toni Lerut, Dirk Van Raemdonck
Affiliations

Donor cause of brain death and related time intervals: does it affect outcome after lung transplantation?

Shana Wauters et al. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2011 Apr.

Abstract

Objective: It remains uncertain whether donor cause of brain death (DCBD) affects survival and freedom from bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) after lung transplantation (LTx). In addition, it is unknown whether the length of time interval from brain insult to brain death [BI-BD] and from brain death to cold preservation [BD-CP] has an impact on outcome.

Methods: Medical charts of isolated lung transplant recipients from 400 consecutive donors were reviewed and classified according to DCBD: 190 vascular [V], 185 traumatic [T], 25 others [O]. Demographics were compared between donor groups. Hospital outcome, survival, and freedom from BOS in recipients were analyzed in relation to DCBD and related time intervals.

Results: Donor age, gender, and weight differed between donor groups (p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.05; respectively). No differences in recipient hospital outcome, survival, and freedom from BOS were found between groups. [BD-CP] longer than 10h resulted in a survival advantage (69% vs 58% and 51% vs 42% at 5 and 10 years, respectively; p<0.05) and a reduced hazard risk (0.952) of dying after LTx; (p<0.05). Multivariable analysis failed to show a significant correlation between DCBD and [BI-BD] versus survival and BOS.

Conclusion: DCBD and [BI-BD] do not affect survival and freedom from BOS after LTx. Lung recipients from donors certified brain dead with a time interval longer than 10h prior to organ preservation showed improved survival unrelated to BOS. This may result from longer and better donor management with reduced lung injury.

PubMed Disclaimer