Development status and new challenges of heart transplantation / 器官移植

Heart transplantation is the primary therapeutic option for patients with end-stage heart failure. The shortage of donors has been the main limiting factor for the increasing quantity of heart transplantation. With persistent updating and introduction of novel technologies, the donor pool has been increasingly expanded, such as using the heart from older donors, donors infected with hepatitis C virus, donors dying from drug overdose or donation after cardiac death (DCD) donors, etc. Meantime, the proportion of recipients with advanced age, multiple organ dysfunction, mechanical circulatory support and human leukocyte antigen antibody sensitization has been significantly increased in recent years. The shortage of donors, complication of recipients' conditions, individualized management of immunosuppressive therapy and prevention and treatment of long-term cardiac allograft vasculopathy are all challenges in the field of heart transplantation. In this article, novel progresses on donor pool expansion, improving the quality of recipients, strengthening the diagnosis and treatment of rejection, and preventing cardiac allograft vasculopathy were reviewed, aiming to prolong the survival and enhance the quality of life of patients with end-stage heart failure on the waiting list or underwent heart transplantation.

Research status of machine perfusion of heart / 器官移植

High-quality donor heart is the prerequisite and fundamental guarantee for successful heart transplantation. Reasonable donor heart preservation technique plays a key role in improving the quality of donor heart and the prognosis of heart transplantation. Static cold storage (SCS) is currently the standard preservation technique for cardiac allograft. However, it is prone to cause severe cold ischemia injury to the donor heart, and it is impossible to evaluate heart function during SCS. As an important emerging technique of organ preservation, machine perfusion better matches with physiological conditions compared with SCS, which may remove metabolic wastes and provide basic substances for metabolic needs during organ preservation, prolong the preservation time and improve the preservation effect to a certain extent. Besides, it may also effectively evaluate organ function and improve clinical prognosis of heart transplantation. Meantime, it can also repair organ damage, significantly optimize organ quality and improve the utilization rate of donor organs. In this article, research status of machine perfusion of donor heart was reviewed.

Interpretation of Guide to the Quality and Safety of Organs for Transplantation(6th edition): identification and referral of potential donors / 器官移植

Organ shortage is one of the important factors restricting the development of human organ transplantation. The identification and referral of potential donors determine the total scale of organ donation. Whether potential donors can be identified and referred is the most important reason for the difference of organ donation rates in different regions. This paper interprets the chapter of the identification and referral of potential donors in the Guide to the Quality and Safety of Organs for Transplantation (6th edition) issued by European Union in order to provide reference for the staff of organ procurement organization and related medical personnel in China and improve the organ donation rate in China.

Progress on application of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in donor maintenance / 器官移植

Organ transplantation is one of the effective methods for the treatment of end-stage diseases, but the lack of donors has hindered the development of organ transplantation. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can improve the hypoxia and hypoperfusion of organs, shorten the warm ischemia time, and maintain the function of donor organs effectively, in case of emergency or donor hemodynamic instability. It helps to make effective use of donor organs and benefit patients who are in urgent need of organ transplants. This article summarized the progress on application of ECMO in donor maintenance and provided suggestions for its application in organ transplantation.

Single-center data analysis of organ donation and utilization after citizen's death / 器官移植

Objective To get a knowledge of the current status of organ donation and utilization after citizen's death in Wuxi District, and thereby provide ideas and basis for further development of organ donation work in local areas. Methods Clinical data from 151 organ donors, included 37 successful donors and 114 potential donors, were retrospectively analyzed. The reasons for donation failure of potential donors were analyzed. The general information for successful donors was collected. And the information on organ donation and organ utilization in successful donors were analyzed. Results Among the 151 organ donors, 37 were successful donors, with the conversion rate reaching 24.5%. For the 114 donors with failed organ donation, the reasons for failure included family disagreement, failure to meet donation status criteria, insufficient evaluation time, and unresolved work injury disputes. The categories for organ donation included 34 cases of donation after brain death followed by cardiac death (DBCD), 3 cases of donation after brain death (DBD), and no case of donation after cardiac death (DCD). The reasons for death of donors includes 19 cases of craniocerebral trauma, 14 cases of stroke and 4 cases of others. Among the 37 cases of successful donors, the majority were floating population. A total of 154 major organs and tissues were donated, of which 124 were major organs. The number of major organs and tissues donated per citizen was (4.2± 1.6) and the number of major organs donated per citizen was (3.4± 1.1). The utilization rate of the 154 donated organs reached 96.7% (149/154), with Nanjing, Wuxi, Suzhou and Changzhou ranking the top 4 of organ distribution. Conclusions The rate for successful organ donation and conversion after citizen's death is low in Wuxi District. The organ donation work networks in local areas should be established. And organ donation promotion efforts and skills training for coordinators should be developed.

Establishing a donation after brain death animal model is important for China donation after citizens' death of liver transplantation / 中华肝胆外科杂志

China donation after citizens' death (CDCD) has already entered a new historical era,and the donation after brain death plus cardiac death (DBCD),which refers to the transition from brain death to cardiac death,is most widely used.The various pathological and physiological changes have an influence on donor organs,which could not be ignored.So the research on the effects of donor brain death for CDCD liver transplantation will be of great significance.Here we discussed the CDCD initiation and its classification,and the necessity and application of establishing a donation after brain death (DBD) animal model to clarify the relationship between DBD and CDCD liver transplantation and thus to enlighten future studies.