Kidney transplantation from donation after cardiac death donor

Objective To summarize the clinical experience of harvesting and using the kidneys from donation after cardiac death (DCD) donors.Methods Fourteen kidney transplantations were successfully performed on 14 patients with end-stage renal diseases.The kidneys were harvested from 7 volunteer donors (age 30～53 years) diagnosed with cardiac death,who were scored 19～23according to the University of Wisconsin donation after cardiac death evaluation.Primary diseases of the donors were cerebral hemorrhage,brain injury,ischemic cerebral vascular disease and brain tumor.Warm ischemia time ranged from 5 to 45 min,and cold ischemia time was 4.5 ～ 12.5 h.Results After transplantation,three patients had delayed graft function (DGF),one had primary non-function (PNF),and two patients developed acute rejection.In the patient with PNF,the transplanted kidney was removed one day after operation and the patient went back to hemodialysis.One patient with DGF was still in recovery with serum creatine 149 μmnol/L (within 3 months after operation).The above two cases both utilized the kidneys with 45 min of warm ischemia time.The rest 12 patients were discharged with normal renal function.Conclusion Under the condition of our country,kidneys strictly harvested from DCD donors can be used as one of the main sources of kidney grafts for kidney transplantation. Key words: Cardiac death;  Tissue donors;  Kidney transplantation