Addressing organ shortages: progress in donation after circulatory death for liver transplantation

Addressing organ shortages: progress in donation after circulatory death for liver transplantation Can J Surg. 2020 Mar 23;63(2):E135-E141 Authors: Nostedt JJ, Shapiro AJ, Freed DH, Bigam DL Abstract Reducing wait list mortality among patients awaiting liver transplantation remains a substantial challenge because of organ shortage. In efforts to expand the donor pool there has been a trend toward increased use of donation after circulatory death (DCD) liver grafts. However, these marginal grafts are prone to higher complication rates, particularly biliary complications. In addition, many procured DCD livers are then deemed unsuitable for transplant. Despite these limitations, DCD grafts represent an important resource to address the current organ shortage, and as such there are research efforts directed toward improving the use of and outcomes for transplantation of these grafts. We review the current progress in DCD liver transplantation. PMID: 32202748 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Canadian Journal of Surgery - Category: Surgery Authors: Tags: Can J Surg Source Type: research