Organ donation after cardiac death is the type of donation that was used exclusively in the beginning of organ donation, before brain death criteria was established. This type of donation occurs when a patient has an illness from which he or she cannot recover, and the patient is being kept alive by artificial means, including ventilators and supportive drugs. Once the family makes the decision to withdraw artificial support, the option to donate organs after cardiac death is presented.
If the family is interested in donation, the ventilator will be disconnected in the operating room instead of the hospital room. If the patient’s heart stops within the designated time frame for donation, the team then waits for several minutes to insure that the heart does not function. At this time, a physician from the hospital, not the organ recovery team, will pronounce the patient dead. Then, the surgery to procure the organs for donation begins.
While donation after cardiac death increases the number of organs available for transplant, this type of donation does not allow for organs other than the liver and kidneys to be procured in most cases. This is because the heart, lungs, pancreas, and intestine cannot tolerate being without blood flow, even during the short time between the cardiac arrest and the surgical procedure.
