Simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplantation from organ donation after cardiac death

The concept of organ donation after cardiac death (DCD) historically precedes the current practice of organ procurement from heartbeating donors meeting the brainstem death criteria. DCD has not gained widespread interest, however, due partly to initial fears that transplantation of such organs leads to suboptimal outcome.

Available data on long-term outcomes following simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplant (SPK) from DCD donors were reviewed, and it was found that the long-term outcome is comparable to SPK from heartbeating donors. Australia's first SPK from a DCD donor was performed.

The patient received a kidney and a pancreas from a young healthy donor after cardiac death, and at the time of writing was well with functioning grafts.

SPK from donation after cardiac death is safe and should continue to be available for patients in need.