Kidney Donation Before Imminent Circulatory Death

Healthcare Worker Attitudes to Living Donation Prior to Planned Withdrawal of Care

Background and Aims

This study assesses the attitudes of healthcare practitioners toward Living Donation Prior to Planned Withdrawal of Care (LD-PPW): the recovery of a living donor organ before withdrawal of life-sustaining measures in a patient who does not meet criteria for brain death, but for whom medical care toward meaningful recovery is deemed futile.

Methods

An electronic survey was administered to 1735 members of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons mailing list with 187 responses (10.8%).

Results

Data from this study revealed that 70% of responding practitioners agreed with LD-PPW due to principles of beneficence and autonomy. Also, 65% of participants felt confident in their ability to declare the futility of care and 70% felt that LD-PPW should be added as an option when registering to become an organ donor.

Conclusion

Currently, nearly half of all donation after circulatory determination of death do not proceed to donation. LD-PPW has been proposed as an alternative procedure targeted at increasing the quality and quantity of transplantable organs while respecting the donor's right to donate, though its implementation has been hindered by concerns over public and provider perception. This study revealed support for LD-PPW among healthcare practitioners as an alternative procedure to increase the quality and quantity of transplantable organs while respecting the donor's right to donate.

Survey of public attitudes towards imminent death donation in the United States

Imminent death donation (IDD) is described as living organ donation prior to a planned withdrawal of life-sustaining care in an imminently dying patient. Although IDD was ethically justified by United Network for Organ Sharing, the concept remains controversial due to presumed lack of public support. The aim of this study was to evaluate the public's attitudes towards IDD. A cross-sectional survey was conducted of US adults age >18 years (n = 2644). The survey included a case scenario of a patient with a devastating brain injury. Responses were assessed on a 5-point Likert scale. Results showed that 68% - 74% of participants agreed or strongly agreed with IDD when posed as a general question and in relation to the case scenario. Participants were concerned about "recovery after a devastating brain injury" (34%), and that "doctors would not try as hard to save a patient's life" (33%). Only 9% of participants would be less likely to trust the organ donation process. In conclusion, our study demonstrates strong public support for IDD in the case of a patient with a devastating brain injury. Notably, participants were not largely concerned with losing trust in the organ donation process. These results justify policy change towards imminent death donation.

Potential yield of imminent death kidney donation

About 99 000 people are waiting for a kidney in the United States, and many will die waiting. The concept of "imminent death" donation, a type of living donation, has been gaining attention among physicians, patients, and ethicists. We estimated the number of potential imminent death kidney donors at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics by assessing the number of annual deaths in individuals with normal kidney function. Based on a previous survey suggesting that one-third of patients might be willing to donate at imminent death, we estimate that between 76 and 396 people in the state of Wisconsin would be medically eligible and willing to donate each year at the time of imminent death. We extrapolated these numbers to all transplant centers in the United States, estimating that between 5925 and 31 097 people might be eligible and willing to donate each year. Our results suggest that allowing donation at imminent death and including discussions about organ donation in end-of-life planning could substantially reduce the nation's kidney waiting list while providing many more donors the opportunity to give this gift.

Organ donation and imminent death: pro position

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Donation after cardiac death is associated with many problems including ischemic injury, high rates of delayed allograft function, prolonged time to asystole, and frequent organ discard. Imminent death donation (IDD) has been proposed as a separate category of organ donation: distinct from living donation and donation after cardiac death.

RECENT FINDINGS

A protocol for IDD was developed at Rhode Island Hospital and published in the ethics literature. The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) Ethics Committee reviewed the protocol and stated that IDD was ethically appropriate in some cases. A wider review by a working group within UNOS concluded similarly, but felt that a myriad of policy revisions would be required and were concerned about a possible negative impact on public trust in organ donation. Nonetheless, IDD and other nontraditional strategies continue to be proposed, implemented in other countries and discussed by patients and donor families.

SUMMARY

This review, on the 'Pro' side of IDD, proposes that the medical community continue to work toward implementing IDD. Donor family's wishes are best met by organ donation, successful outcomes for the recipients, and a dignified death for their loved one. In some cases, IDD is the best strategy to meet these goals.