Dialyzing a Brain-Dead Individual for Organ Procurement

Cureus. 2024 Mar 26;16(3):e56960. doi: 10.7759/cureus.56960. eCollection 2024 Mar.

Abstract

Many patients are unable to receive organ transplantation as there is an expanding gap between the number of patients waiting for an organ and the number who receive it. Organ procurement from the brain-dead can address this expanding gap, especially because one brain-dead patient can potentially donate multiple organs to several recipients. Here, we describe a rare case of a previously healthy 26-year-old male who was declared brain dead after a motor vehicle accident but underwent hemodialysis to treat his acute kidney injury and hyperkalemia before successfully donating his heart and left kidney.

Keywords: dialysis; dialyzing brain-dead patients; extracorporeal kidney-replacement therapy; organ procurement; organ transplantation.

Publication types

  • Case Reports