Postoperative Care in Kidney Transplantation: A Comparison Between Controlled and Uncontrolled Donation After Circulatory Death

Novel Ex-Vivo Thrombolytic Reconditioning of Kidneys Retrieved 4 to 5 Hours After Circulatory Death

BACKGROUND

Due to organ shortage, many patients do not receive donor organs. The present novel thrombolytic technique utilizes organs from donors with uncontrolled donation after circulatory deaths (uDCD), with up to 4-5 h warm ischemia, without advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation (aCPR) or extracorporeal circulation (EC) after death.

METHODS

The study group of pigs (n = 21) underwent simulated circulatory death. After 2 h, an ice slush was inserted into the abdomen. Kidneys were retrieved 4.5 h after death. Lys-plasminogen, antithrombin-III (ATIII), and alteplase (tPA) were injected through the renal arteries on the back table. Subsequent ex vivo perfusion at 15 °C was continued for 3 h, followed by 3 h with red blood cells (RBCs) at 32 °C. Perfusion outcome and histology were compared between uDCD kidneys, receiving no thrombolytic treatment (n = 8), and live donor kidneys (n = 7). The study kidneys were then transplanted into pigs as autologous grafts with a single functioning autologous kidney as the only renal support. uDCD control pigs (n = 8), receiving no ex vivo perfusion, served as controls.

RESULTS

Vascular resistance decreased to <200 mmHg/mL/min ( P < 0.0023) and arterial flow increased to >100 mL/100 g/min ( P < 0.00019) compared to controls. In total 13/21 study pigs survived for >10 days, while all uDCD control pigs died. Histology was preserved after reconditioning, and the creatinine level after 10 days was next to normal.

CONCLUSIONS

Kidneys from extended uDCD, not receiving aCPR/EC, can be salvaged using thrombolytic treatment to remove fibrin thrombi while preserving histology and enabling transplantation with a clinically acceptable early function.

Introducing of the First DCD Kidney Transplantation Program in Poland

In many countries, including Poland, the main problem with transplantation is the insufficiency of organ donors in relation to the demand for organs. Hence, the common aim globally is to increase the pool of donors. The prolonged survival of patients after transplantation, with respect to the survival time of patients on dialysis, makes the search much more intense. After the recourse of expanded criteria donors (ECD), the next step was obtaining kidneys from donors after irreversible cardiac death (DCD). Therefore, based on Dutch, British, and Spanish experience, it can be hypothesized that the introduction of DCD procedures in countries that have not launched these programs and the improvement of DCD procedures may shorten the waiting time for organ transplantation globally. The legal basis for the procurement of organs after irreversible cardiac arrest came into existence in Poland in 2010. Previously, such organ procurements were not in practice. Since 1984, when Poland published irreversible cardiac arrest as a criterion of brain death, it became the only way to determine death prior to the procurement of organs. The aim of this report was to evaluate the results of the first 19 transplantation cases involving harvested kidneys from donors after cardiac arrest, which was irreversible and clinically confirmed, without any doubt as per the ethical protocol of DCD. Understanding, support, and public perception are essential for this program's initiation and maintenance.