Effect of Cardiac Arrest in Brain-dead Donors on Kidney Graft Function.

Background: Cardiac arrest (CA) causes renal ischemia in one-third of brain-dead kidney donors before procurement. We hypothesized that the graft function depends on the time interval between CA and organ procurement.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective population-based study on a prospectively curated database. We included 1469 kidney transplantations from donors with a history of resuscitated CA in 2015-2017 in France. CA was the cause of death (primary CA) or an intercurrent event (secondary CA). The main outcome was the percentage of delayed graft function, defined by the use of renal replacement therapy within the first week posttransplantation.

Results: Delayed graft function occurred in 31.7% of kidney transplantations and was associated with donor function, vasopressors, cardiovascular history, donor and recipient age, body mass index, cold ischemia time, and time to procurement after primary cardiac arrest. Short cold ischemia time, perfusion device use, and the absence of cardiovascular comorbidities were protected by multivariate analysis, whereas time <3 d from primary CA to procurement was associated with delayed graft function (odds ratio 1.38).

Conclusions: This is the first description of time to procurement after a primary CA as a risk factor for delayed graft function. Delaying procurement after CA should be evaluated in interventional studies.