Introduction: Brain death can arise from various etiologies. Although trauma cases often garner the most attention from organ donation teams as a suitable organ donor pool, the limited availability of donors necessitates exploring alternative causes of brain death to meet the demand for organs. In this retrospective cohort study, our primary objective was to assess the role of brain death resulting from drug toxicity in the context of organ donation.
Methods: Conducting a cross-sectional study, we evaluated potential donors who had been transferred to our organ procurement center from 2005 to 2023. Our investigation encompassed an exploration of whether procurement ultimately occurred from these potential donors and identification of the specific organs that were successfully procured.
Results: Among the 132 potential donors, a total of 7 patients experienced cardiopulmonary arrest before organ recovery. Additionally, laboratory data indicated that 3 potential donors were not suitable for organ procurement. After excluding these cases, we proceeded with the evaluation of the remaining potential donors. Remarkably, we found that at least one organ was procured in 122 of these cases, resulting in a success rate of 92.4%. The organs recovered included 201 kidneys, 106 livers, 30 hearts, 5 lungs, and 2 pancreases, demonstrating a substantial average of 2.82 1.02 organs recovered per donor (ORPD). To put this in perspective, we also calculated the ORPD in 719 actual donors who had died from trauma in our center, yielding a slightly higher figure of 3.13 1.02.
Conclusion: Our study underscores the significance of considering brain death resulting from drug toxicity as a viable organ donor pool. Although the ORPD observed in these cases may not match that of trauma-induced brain death, our findings suggest that, with increased attention from organ donation teams, brain death due to drug toxicity has the potential to make a significant contribution to the organ transplantation supply.