[Intensive care issues in the management of potential organ donors]

Organ transplantation is a multidisciplinary speciality that has undergone a remarkable development in the last two decades, saving the lives of patients in advanced failure of various organs. Medical management of organ donors is an essential component of achieving success in transplantation. It requires a good knowledge and understanding of the pathological changes caused by brain death, changes that usually require a diagnosis and a rapid treatment. In our study we intend to analyse the problems that we encountered during preparation of the donors. Hypovolemia, insipid diabetes, pulmonary edema, maintaining viability of organs in optimal conditions are important aspects which influences donation success to a large number of recipients. Between January 2007 - July 2009 in the ICU department of Bagdasar Arseni Emergency Hospital, Bucharest we had 47 potential organ donors, of which only 20 actually came to organ donation. A significant percentage of potential donors are lost due to complications and/or because of denial of consent by the family.