Controlled Donation After Circulatory Death Program: Analysis and Results at a Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: The objective of the study was to evaluate the impact in organs obtained and transplanted from controlled donation after circulatory death (cDCD).

Methods: Transplants from cDCD donors performed at the Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla from the beginning of the program (December 2013) to December 2020 were evaluated. All procedures were performed with normothermic regional perfusion. Donors after brain death (DBDs) during the same period were used as a control group.

Results: A total of 95 donors after cardiac death and 152 DBDs were included. Age was similar in both groups (60 years [IQR, 53-68 years vs 62 years {IQR, 51-79 years]; P = .390). The number of organs recovered per donor was higher in the DBD group (4 [IQR, 3-5] vs 3 [IQR, 2-4], P < .001], as well as the number of transplanted organs (4 [IQR, 2-4] vs 2 [IQR, 2-4]; P = .002]. However, the number of noneffective donors was similar. DBDs presented a higher rate of liver donation (30.5% vs 46.7%; P = .012), lung donation (25.3% vs 38.2%; P = .036), and cardiac donation (1.1% vs 21.7%; P < .001) with respect to the donors after cardiac death group, but kidney and pancreatic donation were similar.

Conclusions: The cDCD with normothermic regional perfusion program is fully established in our center. The age of the cDCD donor has increased with experience and it is currently identical to the control group (DBD). After overcoming the learning curve, cDCD is a multiorgan donation that presents an excellent profitability in the number of organs extracted and transplanted.