European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
-
Observational Study
Out of hospital cardiac arrest and uncontrolled donation after circulatory death in a tertiary cardiac arrest center.
Out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is worldwide quite a common disease, whose mortality still remains high. We aimed at assessing the number of potential donors after OHCA in a tertiary cardiac arrest center with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECPR) and uncontrolled donation after circulatory death (uDCD) programs. ⋯ The implementation of ECPR and uDCD programs in a tertiary cardiac center is feasible and increased the number of donors, because despite organizational and technical challenges, the uDCD donor pool was 62.5% of all potential donors (25/40).