Renal Transplantation from Donation After Circulatory Death Donors: Evolution of Strategies

Donation after circulatory death (DCD) donors are admitted in the intensive care units, who either do not fulfil the brain-stem death criteria or in whom the withdrawal of treatment is planned because of futility of further treatment. The initial renal function and log-term outcomes of DCD renal transplantation (RT) have been a subject of concern in the transplant community because of associated deleterious effects of existing co-morbidities in the donor, elderly age and prolonged warm and cold ischaemia times [1, 2]. However, based on the enhanced understanding of the pathophysiology of DCD and experience gained over the past two decades, DCD RT has become a routine and proven a useful source of organs for transplantation. The editorial summarises the evolution of the strategies adopted to improve the outcomes of DCD RT worldwide over the past two decades.