Heart Donation and Transplantation After Circulatory Determination of Death

In 2018, Canadian Blood Services partnered with Trillium Gift of Life Network to organize a two-day forum to develop expert guidance for the implementation of heart donation and transplantation after circulatory determination of death in Canada.  

The objectives of this forum were to review current evidence and international experience, comparatively evaluate international protocols with existing Canadian medical, legal and ethical practices and perspectives, and to discuss barriers and challenges of implementing direct procurement and perfusion and/or normothermic regional perfusion heart donation and transplantation in Canada. 

Journal Publications 

• Shemie, S.D., Torrance, S., Wilson, L. et al. Heart donation and transplantation after circulatory determination of death: expert guidance from a Canadian consensus building process. Can J Anesth/J Can Anesth (2021).
• Healey, A., van Beinum, A., Hornby, L. et al. Patient engagement in a Canadian consensus forum for heart donation after circulatory determination of death. Can J Anesth/J Can Anesth (2020).
• Manara, A, Shemie, SD, Large, S, et al. Maintaining the permanence principle for death during in situ normothermic regional perfusion for donation after circulatory death organ recovery: A United Kingdom and Canadian proposal. Am J Transplant. 2020; 20: 2017– 2025.

Reports 

PDF copies of the following reports are available by request. Submit a request by sending an email to OTDT@blood.ca, please include the title and use the subject line: PDF Document Request.

• Heart donation and transplantation after circulatory determination of death: expert guidance from a Canadian consensus building process (October 2018)
• Don et transplantation du cœur après un décès d’origine circulatoire: Document d’orientation découlant d’un processus d’établissement de consensus au Canada (Octobre 2018)