A 'Game Changer' for Heart Transplant: Donation After Circulatory Death Explained

Recorded March 4, 2023. This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Ileana L. Piña, MD, MPH: Hello. This is Ileana Piña. I'm at Thomas Jefferson University, and this is my blog.

I am thrilled today to have one of my good friends here with me, Dr Adam DeVore, who's the director of transplant at Duke University. There's been conversation about heart donations, and as most of you know, the hearts are not sitting on the shelf.

When our patients are sick, we really struggle — sometimes for months and maybe even years — to get a heart that is suitable for them, that is the right match, that has the right everything. Hence, many of these patients will die and others will need some kind of circulatory support.

Adam, you have presented on donation after circulatory death (DCD). Define that for us.

Adam D. DeVore, MD, MHS: In the field of heart transplant, DCD or donation after circulatory death is really a game changer. For decades now, we've been doing heart transplants from donors who die or have been declared brain dead.

There's a whole population of potential donors who have very similar neurologic injuries — they're just not technically declared brain dead — whose organs the family would like to donate.