Annales françaises d'anesthèsie et de rèanimation
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Ann Fr Anesth Reanim · Nov 2003
[Analysis of the criteria that contribute to the decision to harvest the heart in brain-dead organ donors].
The number of cardiac transplantation procedures does not increase because of the lack of donor hearts despite an increase in the number of brain-dead organ donors. The criteria used to select a donor heart are not formally standardized. The aim of the present study was to analyze the criteria that contribute to the selection of a donor heart. ⋯ After an initial phase of selection, the final decision to harvest a heart is based on several criteria. These results should be an incentive to conceive a score that could allow a more formal decision process for heart harvesting.