Clinical InvestigationTrends and outcomes of cardiac transplantation from donors dying of drug intoxication
Section snippets
Design
We performed a retrospective analysis of the Standard Transplant Analysis and Research (STAR) database provided by UNOS. The STAR database contains de-identified, patient-level data with information from donors, waiting list patients, and transplant recipients inputted from UNOS registration forms filled for any organ transplant in the United States.2 Given the de-identified nature of the data, the study was granted exemption from full review by the Institutional Review Board at Duke University
Baseline characteristics by donor mechanism of death
A total of 31,660 OHT patients with donor mechanism of death listed were identified between January 1, 2000, and March 31, 2014, and included in our analysis. The cause of death for donors whose mechanisms of death was drug intoxication was mostly anoxia (88.8%), followed by stroke (2.6%) and other (8.6%).
Baseline characteristics of donors by mechanism of death between January 2000 and March 2014 are listed in Table I. Donors who died of drug intoxication during this period were more likely to
Discussion
In this analysis of national data, we demonstrate that there has been a significant increase in the number of organ donors dying of drug intoxication in the United States, who now form a significant proportion of the donor pool. Donors dying of drug intoxication increased in parallel with the opioid epidemic in the United States. These data show that OHT recipients from donors dying of drug intoxication did not have any significant difference in short and long-term outcomes compared to those
Conclusion
Our study provides insights into the outcomes of OHT from donors dying of drug intoxication. These data are particularly significant given the sharp increase in these donors, who now form a significant proportion of organ donors in the United States. These findings are also relevant when counseling potential recipients regarding the risks of accepting organs from donors who have exhibited increased risk behaviors. While our research supports the safety of OHT donation from these donors, further
Disclosures
None relevant.
Acknowledgements
None.
Funding source
None.
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Drug Overdose and Cardiovascular Deaths Among Deceased Organ Donors: Implications for Donor Utilization and Data Reporting
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Hartzell V. Schaff, MD served as guest editor for this article.