Short and Long Term Outcomes With the Use of Kidney and Liver Donated After Cardiac Death

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This study shows positive results from patients who received deceased after cardiac death (DCD) kidneys and livers. DCD organs are from potential donors who have sustained irreversible neurological injury, but do not meet formal brain death criteria (DBD). Often these patients succumb to their injuries when mechanical support is removed thus DCD organs have sustained some injury. DCD kidney recipients and their kidneys had comparable survival rates to DBD recipients. DCD liver recipients and their livers had slightly decreased three year survival rates. Both options prove to be far better than those patients on the recipient waiting list who did not receive organs. Use of DCD organs in the US is relatively new and thus a very small percentage of the total number of organs donated (3% of kidneys and 1.4% of livers), which could affect these results. Two other liver options, split livers (when one adult liver may be shared approx. 60 – 40% between two recipients) and livers from donors above 60 years of age are compared to DCD livers.