Outcome after admission to ITU following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: are non-survivors suitable for non-heart-beating organ donation?

We have reviewed retrospective data from two large UK teaching hospitals regarding outcome following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and the suitability of non-survivors for non-heart-beating organ donation. Patients were selected retrospectively from consecutive admissions from two intensive care units who had presented following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, to a total of 50 patients in each centre. They had all been resuscitated to achieve a spontaneous cardiac output at the scene, in transit or after arrival in hospital, and required further intensive care support due to cardiovascular, respiratory, or neurological impairment. Eighty-six patients (86%) died in the Intensive Care Unit and only 14 (14%) survived to discharge from the Unit. A further nine (9%) patients died in hospital before discharge home. Four patients (4%) were alive after 6 months and three (3%) were alive after 1 year. Fifty-seven (57%) of patients had active withdrawal of treatment with only four (4%) being potentially suitable for organ procurement having not been excluded because of age, medical history or the length of time to die following withdrawal of treatment. Our results show that only a small increase in donor organs could be potentially achieved from this population. Further work is required to determine whether such patients should be considered as non-heart-beating donors.