Organ Donation Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Organ Donation, including details on risks, procedure, surgery, outcomes.

Donation after circulatory death: burying the dead donor rule.

Rodríguez-Arias D, Smith MJ, Lazar NM

Universidad del País Vasco/EHU.

Despite continuing controversies regarding the vital status of both brain-dead donors and individuals who undergo donation after circulatory death (DCD), respecting the dead donor rule (DDR) remains the standard moral framework for organ procurement. The DDR increases organ supply without jeopardizing trust in transplantation systems, reassuring society that donors will not experience harm during organ procurement. While the assumption that individuals cannot be harmed once they are dead is reasonable in the case of brain-dead protocols, we argue that the DDR is not an acceptable strategy to protect donors from harm in DCD protocols. We propose a threefold alternative to justify organ procurement practices: (1) ensuring that donors are sufficiently protected from harm; (2) ensuring that they are respected through informed consent; and (3) ensuring that society is fully informed of the inherently debatable nature of any criterion to declare death.

Published 2 August 2011 in Am J Bioeth, 11(8): 36-43.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

Articles on Organ Donation published 27 July 2011:

When the law meets organ transplantation: the experience from the United kingdom.   Transplantation, 92(3): 262-4.

Because the availability of organs falls short of the numbers of people who might benefit from transplantation, there has to be rationing of this resource. As organs donated from deceased donors are considered a national resource, there needs to be clear and transparent selection and allocation policies. There is the potential for a conflict between public and clinical priorities with legal requirements and this may lead to challenge in the courts. For example, both healthcare professionals and ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Preservation of kidneys from controlled donors after cardiac death.   Br J Surg, 98(9): 1260-6.

[Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Organ Donation published 19 July 2011:

HLA-DR matching in organ allocation: balance between waiting time and rejection in pediatric kidney transplantation.   Arch Surg, 146(7): 824-9.

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Articles on Organ Donation published 8 July 2011:

In the best interests of the deceased: a possible justification for organ removal without consent?   Theor Med Bioeth, 32(4): 259-69.

Opt-out systems of postmortem organ procurement are often supposed to be justifiable by presumed consent, but this justification turns out to depend on a mistaken mental state conception of consent. A promising alternative justification appeals to the analogical situation that occurs when an emergency decision has to be made about medical treatment for a patient who is unable to give or withhold his consent. In such cases, the decision should be made in the best interests of the patient. The ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Organ Donation published 28 June 2011:

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for bridge to heart transplantation among children in the United States: analysis of data from the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network and Extracorporeal Life Support Organization Registry.   Circulation, 123(25): 2975-84.

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Articles on Organ Donation published 22 June 2011:

Knowledge and behavior among health professionals in relation to cadaveric organ donation and transplantation: a questionnaire-based analysis in Portuguese hospitals.   Transplant Proc, 43(5): 1429-33.

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Preliminary analysis of factors influencing organ donation rates in China.   Transplant Proc, 43(5): 1421-4.

In recent years, the People's Republic of China has experienced advancements in organ transplant surgical techniques, growing transplant waiting lists, and stagnant organ donation rates. All of these factors have pressured China to find ways to increase brain-dead cadaveric donation rates to narrow the gap between organ supply and demand. The objective of this work was to review the factors influencing brain-dead cadaveric donation rates in China including legislation, brain-death criteria, and ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Transplantation with kidney paired donation to increase the donor pool: a single-center experience.   Transplant Proc, 43(5): 1412-4.

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