Date Time
‘Five-minute rule’ holds true for cardiac death of organ donors: study
A Canadian-led research project has confirmed that it is safe to procure organs for transplant from dying patients once the heart has stopped for a full five minutes, in newly published findings in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The researchers monitored blood pressure and electrocardiographic (ECG) waveforms in 631 dying patients following the removal of life-supporting equipment and medication in 20 intensive care units in Canada, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. On average it took an hour for all signs of life to end, including no heart activity. In 14 per cent of the patients, the heart restarted briefly after having no pulse for up to four minutes and 20 seconds, but all the patients ultimately died.
Press release content from Business Wire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation.
Ancora Heart Enrolls First Patient in the CORCINCH-HF Study
January 28, 2021 GMT
As the only completely transcatheter procedure to treat the enlarged left ventricle, the AccuCinch® Ventricular Restoration System is a fundamentally different and innovative device-based therapy designed to improve the structure and function of the heart and help bring relief to HF patients who remain symptomatic despite current guideline-directed medical care. (Graphic: Business Wire)
As the only completely transcatheter procedure to treat the enlarged left ventricle, the AccuCinch® Ventricular Restoration System is a fundamentally different and innovative device-based therapy designed to improve the structure and function of the heart and help bring relief to HF patients who remain symptomatic despite current guideline-directed medical care. (Graphic: Business Wire)
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A new international study, led by Dr. Sonny Dhanani of the CHEO Research Institute, and published in the January 28 issue of the
New England Journal of Medicine, documents the physiology of the dying process. Working closely with the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program, the research team asked over 600 families to allow their loved ones in the ICU to have their vital signs monitored during the dying process. This is the largest international study of its kind.
Why is a study like this important?
For families to choose organ donation when a loved one has died, they must be able to trust that death has really happened and that it is irreversible. Trust allows people to decide to donate at a time of grief and allows the medical community to feel comfortable opening a dialogue about donation. For donation after circulatory-determined death to be medically possible, death must be declared within a window of time after life sustaining measures are withdra