Implementation of the Donation after Cardiac Death in Lithuania

The Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kauno klinikos organized the first course to get ready for the new model of organ donation in Lithuania. Meetings with the Authorities and a DCD workshop were held from 24th to 26th of February in the biggest hospital of Lithuania – Kauno klinikos.

The model of Donation after Cardiac Death (DCD) was validated by the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania in January this year. It is expected to reduce the shortage of donor organs and to shorten the waiting lists of recipients in the state. At the moment there are 170 patients waiting for kidneys, 9 for lungs and 60 for liver transplantations in Lithuania. Over the last year,there were 27 multiple-organ donors prepared in the hospitals of Lithuania, of which 15 were prepared in Kauno klinikos. Annually more than 60 transplantations are made in different deparments of Kauno klinikos.

“The number of patients confirmed as brain dead is decreasing all over the world, so it is very important to take advantages of other donation options,” – says the initiator of the courses, the head of the Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit in Kauno klinikos Tomas Tamošuitis. There are more than 10 donors after the brain death annually in his department.

The courses were held in the LSMU Centre of Medical Simulation. The courses were led by the experienced team of experts from Barcelona, Spain. Dr. Marti Manyalich – the assessor on transplantation of the Medical Direction of the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona and the General Director of the Donation and Transplantation Institute (DTI), Gloria Paez – the Educational Director of DTI, Dr. Angel Ruiz – the Donation Coordinator, and Dr. Javier Aguirrezabalaga – the transplant surgeon, were the professionals from the country with the three decades experience of installing of the transplants in Spain and in other countries around the world. Spain is the world leader in the number of transplants.

Participants of theoretical classes and practical workshops were the specialists from Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care, Cardiac, Abdominal surgery, Nephrology, Emergency Medicine and other departments of Kauno klinikos. The courses focused on potential NHBD identification, preparation, organs viability and preservation procedures.