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Review
. 2020 Jan;33(1):76-88.
doi: 10.1111/tri.13506. Epub 2019 Oct 7.

Donation after circulatory death today: an updated overview of the European landscape

Mar Lomero  1 , Dale Gardiner  2 , Elisabeth Coll  3 , Bernadette Haase-Kromwijk  4 , Francesco Procaccio  5 , Franz Immer  6 , Lyalya Gabbasova  7 , Corine Antoine  8 , Janis Jushinskis  9 , Nessa Lynch  10 , Stein Foss  11 , Catarina Bolotinha  12 , Tamar Ashkenazi  13 , Luc Colenbie  14 , Andreas Zuckermann  15 , Miloš Adamec  16 , Jarosław Czerwiński  17 , Sonata Karčiauskaitė  18 , Helena Ström  19 , Marta López-Fraga  1 , Beatriz Dominguez-Gil  3 ; European Committee on Organ Transplantation of the Council of Europe (CD-P-TO)
Collaborators, Affiliations
Free article
Review

Donation after circulatory death today: an updated overview of the European landscape

Mar Lomero et al. Transpl Int. 2020 Jan.
Free article

Abstract

Donation after circulatory death (DCD) has become an accepted practice in many countries and remains a focus of intense interest in the transplant community. The present study is aimed at providing a description of the current situation of DCD in European countries. Specific questionnaires were developed to compile information on DCD practices, activities and post-transplant outcomes. Thirty-five countries completed the survey. DCD is practiced in 18 countries: eight have both controlled DCD (cDCD) and uncontrolled DCD (uDCD) programs, 4 only cDCD and 6 only uDCD. All these countries have legally binding and/or nonbinding texts to regulate the practice of DCD. The no-touch period ranges from 5 to 30 min. There are variations in ante and post mortem interventions used for the practice of cDCD. During 2008-2016, the highest DCD activity was described in the United Kingdom, Spain, Russia, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Data on post-transplant outcomes of patients who receive DCD donor kidneys show better results with grafts obtained from cDCD versus uDCD donors. In conclusion, DCD is becoming increasingly accepted and performed in Europe, importantly contributing to the number of organs available and providing acceptable post-transplantation outcomes.

Keywords: brain death; donation after circulatory death; normothermic regional perfusion; organ donation; transplantation.

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References

    1. Organ Donation and Transplantation Activities. 2016 Report. http://www.transplant-observatory.org/download/2016-activity-data-report/. Accessed March 2019.
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