Expanding the pool of deceased organ donors: the ICU and beyond

Excerpt

Organ transplantation is a therapy that benefits thousands of patients every year. Its expansion is, however, limited by our chronic inability to meet the transplantation needs of patients. The World Health Organization (WHO) has called governments to progress towards self-sufficiency in transplantation, primarily by maximizing donation from the deceased. This requires adopting a whole hospital approach to identify areas of current medical practice that lead to the loss of donation potential, particularly in the management of patients with severe brain injuries who die despite initial active treatment, those with devastating brain injury (DBI)—defined as any neurological condition perceived as an immediate threat to life or incompatible with good functional recovery and where withdrawal or withholding of life-sustaining therapy is being considered—and those after unsuccessful cardiopulmonary resuscitation. …