Solid Organ Donation From Brain-dead Donors With Cardiorespiratory Arrest After Snow Avalanche Burial: A Retrospective Single-center Study.
Transplantation
; 106(3): 584-587, 2022 03 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33859150
BACKGROUND: Complete snow avalanche burial is associated with high mortality. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and incidence of organ retrieval in brain-dead donors following cardiorespiratory arrest due to avalanche burial and to evaluate the function of transplanted organs. METHODS: The transplant registry of the Medical University of Innsbruck was searched for organ donors with a history of avalanche burial, and the function and survival of transplanted organs were assessed. RESULTS: Thirty-three organs were procured from eight donors and 31 organs (13 kidneys, 6 livers, 3 pancreases, 5 hearts, and 4 lungs) were ultimately transplanted. Allograft and recipient 1-y survival were 100% and both initial and long-term graft function were good. Only one-third of all avalanche victims who died in the intensive care unit with signs of irreversible hypoxic brain injury became organ donors. CONCLUSIONS: Initial experience from this retrospective study suggests that organs from brain-dead avalanche victims can be transplanted with good results. Starting a Donation after Circulatory Determination of Death program might be an option for increasing the number of organ donations from avalanche victims with irreversible hypoxic brain injury.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Tissue and Organ Procurement
/
Avalanches
Type of study:
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Transplantation
Year:
2022
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Austria
Country of publication:
United States