Extracorporeal support for organ donation after cardiac death effectively expands the donor pool.

Background: We sought to evaluate the effect on short-term outcomes of normothermic, extracorporeal perfusion (ECMO) for donation of abdominal organs for transplantation after cardiac death (DCD). Study parameters included increase in number of donors and organs, types of organs procured, and viability of kidneys transplanted.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed medical record data for all patients enrolled in our ECMO-supported DCD donor protocol between 10/1/2000 to 2/01/2004.