Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Brain Death Notifications and Organ Donation Time?

Çalışkan, Gülbahar; Sayan, Ayça; Kılıç, İsa; Haki, Cemile; Girgin, Nermin Kelebek

doi:10.6002/ect.2021.0090

Cited by 7 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…In a study, it was observed that the most common cause of brain death was intracerebral hemorrhage (42%), followed by traumatic brain injury (343/1844, 19%) [16]. Intracranial hemorrhage was the most common cause of brain death in different studies during the COVID-19 pandemic [17,18]. Similarly, in our study, the most common cause of brain death was intracerebral hemorrhage both in the pre-pandemic period and during the pandemic period.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

“…In a study conducted in our country, the time between admission to the intensive care unit and diagnosis of brain death was found to be 4 (IQR 5) days and 4 (IQR 12) days before and during the pandemic, respectively. In the same study, the duration of organ donation was found to be 8.5 ± 2.12 hours in the pre-pandemic period and 54 ± 11.53 hours in the pandemic period [17]. In another study, the median time from admission to the intensive care unit to the diagnosis of brain death was 4 (min-max, 1.0-36.0) days during the pandemic period [18].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

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Evaluation of organ donation process and affecting factors in COVID-19 pandemic

Kılınç

ÇÖKEN

2023

The European Research Journal

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Objectives: More than six million people worldwide are affected by end-stage organ failure and the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed organ and tissue donation. Methods: The data of patients diagnosed with brain death between July 2018-March 2020 (pre-pandemic period) and April 2020-December 2021 (pandemic period) were analyzed retrospectively. Donor characteristics, laboratory levels, time from intensive care admission to determination of brain death, time to family approval, family approval rates and organ types were analyzed. Results: The mean age of 56 patients with pre-pandemic diagnosis of brain death was 61.82 ± 21.39 years, 37 (63%) patients were donors and 53 organs were obtained. Mean age of 39 patients diagnosed with brain death during the pandemic was 58.26 ± 18.02 years and 38 organs were obtained from 21 (52.5%) donors. Between the two periods, there was a decrease of 30.35% in the diagnosis of brain death, 43.24% in the number of donors and 26.41% in the number of organs supplied. The most common cause of brain death was intracranial hemorrhage during both periods. While the time elapsed between family interview and surgery was 9.33 ± 2.19 hours before the pandemic, it was 15.29 ± 4.28 hours during the pandemic period (p = 0.01). There was a significant difference between C-reactive protein levels at the time of diagnosis of brain death (p < 0.05). Staphylococcus haemolyticus was most frequently seen in blood culture. Conclusions: Brain death and organ donation have decreased significantly during the pandemic period compared to previous years, similar to research conducted in different countries and regions. Due to COVID-19, prolonged stays in the intensive care unit (ICU) may pose a risk of infection in ICU donors, and care should be taken in terms of donor loss.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Evaluation of organ donation process and affecting factors in COVID-19 pandemic

Kılınç

ÇÖKEN

2023

The European Research Journal

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“…In the literature, it is seen that BD is diagnosed in the first week after admission to the ICU 14,15,19,20 . However, in a study conducted during the pandemic process, it was reported that this period was four days on average 23 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the literature, it is seen that the diagnosis time of BD is usually within 24-48 hours 18,21,27 . In a single-center study from Turkey, the time to diagnose BD during the pandemic was reported to be 29 hours 23 . In our study, the time to diagnose BD was approximately 32 hours.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain death diagnosis and management in the COVID-19 pandemic

Balkaya

Demirel

KORKMAZ

et al. 2022

Cukurova Medical Journal

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Purpose: This present study aimed to share experiences in the diagnosis and management of brain death (BD) and cadaveric donation cases, detected in a research hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: BD cases diagnosed between 15/03/2020-15/05/2021 in our intensive care units (ICU) were retrospectively evaluated. Patients’ demographic characteristics, primary diagnoses, ICU admission time, and length of hospital stay were analyzed. Clinical suspicion, diagnosis, declaration, and donation or cardiac arrest times and supplementary tests to support the clinical judgment performed were also evaluated. Results: 37 cases, were included in the study. Intracranial hemorrhage was the most common (54.1%) diagnosis in ICU admissions. Apnea tests could be performed only in 27 patients (73%). Cerebral CT-angiography was used as a supplementarytary test in 27 (73%) cases. Family consent for organ donation was obtained from 10 patients (27%), and 70% (n= 7) of them became donors. The time between ICU admission and BD diagnosis time was 114±92.8 (11-360) hours, the time between clinical suspicion and diagnosis was 32±15.1 (4-78) hours, the time between diagnosis and cardiac arrest of non-donors was 24±15.2 (5-72) hours, and the time between diagnosis and donation was 23±7.6 (15-35) hours. Conclusion: Occupancy in ICUs due to COVID-19 has reduced the admission of patients who may be donors to ICUs, and there has been a decrease in the number of BD detection, family approval, and organ donation in our hospital.

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“…With a drastic reduction in organ donation rates during the pandemic as a result reduced road traffic accident, decreased organ donation drive; a significantly higher proportion of patients are awaiting DDLT 31 , 32 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%