Cooling to Optimize Organ Life in Donor Study

Feasibility of Mild-to-moderate Therapeutic Hypothermia as an In-vivo Organ Preservation Strategy in Brain-dead Donors

The purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility and safety of mild-to-moderate hypothermia as an in-vivo organ preservation strategy compared to normothermia in 60 brain-dead organ donors.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age greater than 18 years;pronounced dead as per hospital brain-death criteria
• Accepted by organ procurement organization for organ donation
• Subjects within 3 hours of brain death pronouncement

Exclusion Criteria:

• Consent cannot be obtained from authorized representative;mean arterial pressure < 60 mmHg and/ or more than 2 vasopressor and/or inotrope use
• Presence of 2nd or 3rd degree heart block
• Ongoing extracranial hemorrhage
• International normalized ratio > 3.0
• Donors with human-immunodeficiency virus infection
• Pregnancy