Organ procurement in donor with brain death and cardiac arrest supported by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation / 中华器官移植杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To summarize the experiences and protocol of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) technique in donors with brain death and unexpected cardiac arrest.Method We described here the organ donation of one case of brain death complicated with hemodynamic instability and cardiac arrest,and the corresponding recovery of the receptor liver.A 50-year old female developed brain death due to brain aneurysmal hemorrhage.He was given two kinds of high-dose vasopressor,but hemodynarnic instability was not improved.After ECMO support,the hemodynamics turned to stable,but unexpected cardiac arrest happened.The total operating time of ECMO was 5 h,including 4 h after cardiac arrest.The liver was transplanted into a 65-year old female with hepatocellular carcinoma (diagnosed by Hangzhou Criteria) by classic orthotopic liver transplantation with end-to-end anastomosis.Result One liver and two kidneys were obtained successfully,and all the receptors recovered uneventfully.The post-operative ALT and AST levels reached the peak at 169 U/L and 365 U/L respectively,and returned to normal two weeks later.Conclusion ECMO can be used to support brain death complicated with hemodynamic instability and unexpected cardiac arrest.It can save precious time for organ donation,and preserve the function of liver and kidney as well.