Kidney Transplant from Donors after Cardiocirculatory Death: An Initial Experience of a Single Centre in Portugal

Sara Fernandes1*, Vanessa Santos1, Cátia Felício1, Carlos Miranda1, Lucas Batista1, João Coutinho1 and José Guerra2

1Department of Surgery, Universitary Hospitalary Centre of Lisbon North, Portugal
2Department of Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation, Universitary Hospitalary Centre of Lisbon North, Portugal

^*Correspondance to: Sara Fernandes 

 PDF  Full Text DOI: 10.25107/2474-1647.2712

Abstract

Introduction: Donation after Cardiocirculatory Death (DCD is a mean of addressing the shortage with the potential to increase the number of transplantable organs. The legal and ethical basis for transplants from DCD (only type 2 Maastricht) started in Portugal in 2014 and at our center in 2017. We pretend to describe our initial experience of transplantation of organs from DCD donors. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of DCD donors and kidney transplant recipients that occurred in 2018 at our Centre. Results: In 2018, 7 donors were accepted in our program for DCD. Of those 14 kidneys, 9 were transplanted in our center, 3 were transplanted at other centers and 2 were not suitable for transplant. The mean age of the donors was 48.6-years and of the recipients were 45.8-years. The causes of death were traumatic brain injury (n=1), sudden cardiac arrest (n=2), respiratory arrest (n=1) and unknown (n=1). The serum creatinine average of the donors was 1.15 mg/dL. There were 1 case of acute rejection with renal vein thrombosis and was submitted to nephrectomy. The kidney function of the others recipients at 10th month of follow-up were good with a mean serum creatinine of 1.2 mg/dL. Conclusion: Our initial results compare positively with those from the transplantation of organs obtained from donors after brain death. DCD can be an important mean of increasing the number of organs available for transplant and its widespread implementation in Portugal should be encouraged.

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Cite the article

Fernandes S, Santos V, Felício C, Miranda C, Batista L, Coutinho J, et al. Kidney Transplant from Donors after Cardiocirculatory Death: An Initial Experience of a Single Centre in Portugal. Clin Surg. 2020; 5: 2712..