Organ donation and time to procurement: late is not too late

No consensus exists as to the maximal period of time allowable after brain death (BD) before organ procurement rates begin to deteriorate. The aim of this study was to examine organ procurement rates as a function of time after BD.

After institutional review board approval, all consented donors from 2006 through 2008 were identified from the regional Organ Procurement Organization. Demographics, organ procurement data, and the time from BD to procurement were abstracted. The organ's procured to consented ratio was analyzed from the time of BD to organ recovery in 6-hour intervals.

Of 1,554 consented organ donors, 678 (46.3%) were trauma patients. Mean age was 37.1 years +/- 17.6 years; 62.6% were male. The mean time from BD to procurement was 34.5 hours +/- 19.8 hours. A total of 3,340 (44.8%) organs (kidneys 95.4%, livers 80.5%, hearts 36.0%, pancreas 24.9%, lungs 13.0%, and intestines 2.9%) were procured out of the 7,451 that were consented for. Poor organ function was the primary reason for nonprocurement. For each organ analyzed individually and all organs combined, there was no decrease in the procurement to consented ratio with increasing time after BD. There was also no increase in the number of organs nonprocured because of poor organ function.

Increasing time interval between BD and organ procurement was not associated with decreased organ procurement rates or an increased number of nonsalvageable organs because of poor organ function. Further investigation of the impact of this delay on long-term organ function is warranted.