WASHINGTON (AP) — The vast majority of organ donations once came from people who were brain-dead. Now they’re increasingly coming from people who died when their heart stopped beating, a major shift that can boost transplants but also raises public confusion, researchers reported Thursday.What’s called donation after circulatory death, or DCD, jumped dramatically in a short period: It accounted for 49% of all deceased donors in the U.S. last year, up from 2% in 2000.Technology has helped overcome barriers to using those organs — ways to keep them from deteriorating as the heartbeat winds down — spurring this type of donation at the same time the nation is hunting ways to overcome a dire shortage. More than 100,000 people are on the transplant waiting list and thousands die waiting. Just over 49,000 transplants were performed last year.AdvertisementAdvertisementBut specialists from NYU Langone Health found donation after circulatory death is far more common in some parts of the country than others. That suggests better educating the public and local hospitals about the option could further increase access to lifesaving transplants.The findings, published in the medical journal JAMA, come as some rare but scary reports of potential donors who showed signs of life have shaken trust in the transplant system.Additional safeguards are being developed by both federal officials and the nonprofit organ procurement organizations, or OPOs, that the government certifies to coordinate donation. The new findings may aid that policymaking.Donation after circulatory death is complex and “we need to make sure we are doing it well,” said Dr. Babak Orandi, an NYU transplant surgeon and study co-author. “If we stop doing it or severely restrict it, there would be pretty significant repercussions for patients.”Different types of organ donationWhile living donors can provide certain organs, most transplants are thanks to donations from the deceased. Brain death is declared when testing shows someone has no remaining brain function. If they’re a possible organ donor, the body is kept on a ventilator to support the organs until they’re retrieved.AdvertisementAdvertisementDonation after circulatory death can be an option if someone has a nonsurvivable injury but all brain function hasn’t ceased, and the family chooses to end life support. Death occurs after the heart gradually stops beating. Once that happens there’s a mandatory wait — five minutes, according to guidelines from the A …
