Preclinical Modeling of DCD Class III Donation: Paving the Way for the Increased Use of This Challenging Donor Type

Figure 1

Schematic representation of the DCD ClassIII guidelines formulated by the ABM: Agonal period (between life support cessation and circulatory arrest) must last under 180min, and within this time window the hypoperfusion time (i.e., between the point when mean arterial pressure, MAP, drops below 45 mmHg and circulatory arrest) must be under 120min. Once circulatory arrest is determined, there is a 5min no touch period before death is declared and organs can be procured. Further management considerations such as normothermic regional circulation are currently being discussed.