A Feasibility Study of Uncontrolled Donation After Circulatory Death
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Feasibility Study of Uncontrolled Donation After Circulatory Death: a Combined Cohort and Qualitative Study
IRAS ID
324623
Contact name
Dominic Summers
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
TF093 , NHS Blood and Transplant Fund; PO118622, Royal College of Surgeons Sir Roy and Lady Calne
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
There are an estimated 3 deaths a day related to the shortage of donor organs. ‘Standard’ donation pathways from intensive care units only provide around 1500 donors per year in the UK. Unlike in other countries, there is no uncontrolled donation after circulatory death (uDCD) pathway in the UK to enable donation for those who die following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). uDCD is challenging to implement as, following death, organs have to be preserved rapidly before they are irreversibly damaged; and this has to be done in a manner that is acceptable for donor families.
This is a feasibility study of kidney transplantation following uDCD donation, with three key workstreams: 1. Design
and evaluation of an effective and acceptable resuscitation, donation and kidney transplant pathway for patients with
out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. We aim to recover, transplant and evaluate kidneys from 5 uDCD donors in Cambridge. Eligible patients would be those under 60 years who have a witnessed OHCA; we estimate that there will be 23 such potential donors a year. Recovered kidneys will be offered to recipients in Cambridge and at the Royal Free Hospital. Kidney recipients will receive routine post-transplant follow-up 2. Qualitative assessment, using semi-structured interviews of potential donor families, to evaluate the experience and acceptability of the donation pathway for relatives, and to identify ways in which it could be improved. 3. Piloting a new test (using RNA sequencing of kidney biopsies) to determine whether kidneys recovered from donors are safe to transplant.
The study is funded by the Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, NHS Blood and Transplant, and the Royal College of
Surgeons of England. Confirmation that uDCD is feasible, safe and acceptable to families in the UK would support a large-scale UK implementation study, and potentially increase UK donation rates by 25%.REC name
East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/EM/0257
Date of REC Opinion
20 Dec 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion