Characterizing cardiac donation after circulatory death: implications for perfusion preservation.

Background: Donation after circulatory determination of death (DCDD) involves variable definitions of death among hospitals, and DCDD hearts are not generally considered for transplantation. The definition can affect ischemic times, and machine perfusion preservation appears promising for recovery of DCDD hearts. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the agonal phase of DCDD donors and evaluate retrograde perfusion preservation of DCDD donor hearts in a large animal model of cardiac transplantation.