Intravenous Levothyroxine for Unstable Brain-Dead Heart Donors.

Background: Hemodynamic instability and myocardial dysfunction are major factors preventing the transplantation of hearts from organ donors after brain death. Intravenous levothyroxine is widely used in donor care, on the basis of observational data suggesting that more organs may be transplanted from donors who receive hormonal supplementation.

Methods: In this trial involving 15 organ-procurement organizations in the United States, we randomly assigned hemodynamically unstable potential heart donors within 24 hours after declaration of death according to neurologic criteria to open-label infusion of intravenous levothyroxine (30 μg per hour for a minimum of 12 hours) or saline placebo.

Perceptions of pediatric deceased donor consent: A survey of organ procurement organizations.

Background: Children awaiting transplantation face a high risk of waitlist mortality due to a shortage of pediatric organ donors. Pediatric donation consent rates vary across Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs), suggesting that some OPOs might utilize more effective pediatric-focused donor recruitment techniques than others. An online survey of 193 donation requestor staff sheds light on the strategies that OPO staff utilize when approaching potential pediatric deceased organ donors.

The impact of donor consent mechanism on organ procurement organization performance in the United States.

Background: Lack of donor organ availability represents a major limitation to the success of solid organ transplantation. The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) publishes performance reports of organ procurement organizations (OPO) in the United States, but does not stratify by the mechanism of donor consent, namely first-person authorization (organ donor registry) and next-of-kin authorization. This study aimed to report the trends in deceased organ donation in the United States and assess the regional differences in OPO performance after accounting for the different mechanisms of donor consent.

The Impact of Organ Procurement Injury on Transplant Organ Availability.

Patients on the transplant waiting list continue to have a significant wait time as organ supply remains low. Many initiatives have been undertaken in the last few years to attempt to increase the organ allograft supply. As organ procurement organizations have attempted to increase their procurement of organs from deceased donors, emphasis has been placed on avoidance of injury to organs during procurement.

Predictors of Deceased Organ Donation in the Pediatric Population.

Background: A shortage of donor organs represents the major barrier to the success of solid organ transplantation. This is especially true in the pediatric population for which the number of organ donors has decreased over time. With this study, we aimed to assess the factors associated with deceased organ donor consent in the pediatric population and determine the variability in consent rates across organ procurement organizations (OPOs).