BOSTON, July 26, 2002 (LSN.ca) – Kidneys transplanted from a cadaver keep functioning just as long as those taken from a so-called “brain-dead” patient whose heart is still beating, according to a Swiss study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In the past, doctors believed that if they waited until a person’s heart stopped to remove the kidneys, the organs would be damaged from a lack of oxygen and be useless for transplant. The shortage of kidneys available from the “brain dead” method prompted the study by researchers at University Hospital Zurich. As of 2001, only about 2% of U.S. kidney transplants were done with organs taken from people whose hearts had stopped. In other words, 98% were from people whose hearts were still beating, but whose brains showed no activity at the time. By using organs from “cardiac death” donors, the number of kidneys available could increase up to 30%—meaning over 1,000 extra U.S. donors per year. Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, welcomes the discovery as “more ethical” than taking organs from people considered brain dead but whose bodies are still living. The problem is that in some cases, life can return to the brain for unexplained reasons. Schadenberg says that when the heart itself has stopped, “there is at least a greater assurance the person is completely dead.” To read Toronto Star coverage see: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2002/7/26/world/kidy&sec=world
To read the abstract from the New England Journal of Medicine see: https://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/347/4/248