Lung transplantation from donation after cardiocirculatory death: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Lung transplantation (LTx) can extend life expectancy and enhance the quality of life for select patients with end-stage lung disease. In the setting of donor lung shortage and waiting list mortality, the interest in donation after cardiocirculatory death (DCD) is increasing. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare outcomes between DCD and conventional donation after brain death (DBD).

PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Scopus, Web of Science, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched. We identified original research studies with 1-year post-transplant survival data involving >5 DCD transplants. We performed meta-analyses examining 1-year survival, primary graft dysfunction, and acute rejection after LTx.

We identified 519 citations; 11 observational cohort studies met our inclusion criteria for systematic review, and 6 met our inclusion criteria for meta-analysis. There were no differences found in 1-year mortality after LTx between DCD and DBD cohorts in individual studies or in the meta-analysis (DCD [n = 271] vs DBD [n = 2,369], relative risk [RR] 0.88, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.59-1.31, p = 0.52, I(2) = 0%). There was also no difference between DCD and DBD in a pooled analysis of 5 studies reporting on primary graft dysfunction (RR 1.09, 95% CI 0.68-1.73, p = 0.7, I(2) = 0%) and 4 studies reporting on acute rejection (RR 0.72, 95% CI 0.49-1.05, p = 0.09, I(2) = 0%).

Survival after LTx from DCD is comparable to survival after LTx from DBD in observational cohort studies. DCD appears to be a safe and effective method to expand the donor pool.