UK guidelines on transplantation from deceased donors after circulatory death

ABSTRACT

Transplantation offers patients with end-stage organ failure a cost-effective treatment that can improve quality of life and increase life expectancy. Prior to the introduction of guidance defining the concept of brain death in the 1970s, all organs donated for transplantation were from donation after circulatory death (DCD) donors. Following the introduction of neurological testing to diagnose death, the majority of organs donated for transplantation were from donation after brain death (DBD) donors or living donors.