ReviewIntensive care medicine2019
Management of the brain-dead donor in the ICU: general and specific therapy to improve transplantable organ quality.
Review in Intensive care medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07251777 (Prone vs Supine Position in Potential Organ Donors), which is not on this map. Cited by 51 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Prone vs Supine Position in Potential Organ Donors: PRODONAR Multicenter Clinical Trial
Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 125 citations in OpenAlex.
- Therapeutic donor hypothermia following brain death to improve the quality of transplanted organs.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Worldwide management of donors after neurological death: a systematic review and narrative synthesis of guidelines.Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie · 2020Pooled it
- Evidence-Based Checklist to Delay Cardiac Arrest in Brain-Dead Potential Organ Donors: The DONORS Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2023Trial
- Intravenous Levothyroxine for Unstable Brain-Dead Heart Donors.The New England journal of medicine · 2023Trial
- Early risk stratification for progression to death by neurological criteria following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.Resuscitation · 2022Trial
- Temporal changes in clinical practices for patients considered clinically brain dead: a single-center cohort study.Journal of intensive care · 2026Article
- Education and Ethical Guidance for Organ Donation at the End-of-Life: An Ethical Guidance Statement from the Neurocritical Care Society.Neurocritical care · 2026Review
- Associations of Vasopressin and Corticosteroid Therapy with Organ Yield in Brain-Dead Donors: A Multicenter Cohort Study in Japan.Neurocritical care · 2026Article
- Maternal Corporeal Support in Terminal Stage Brain Astrocytoma: A Case Report and Literature Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- [Extracorporeal organ support as a bridging strategy to enable organ donation-a case report with literature review].Medizinische Klinik, Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin · 2026Review
- Understanding the Relationship Between Severe Donor Diabetes Insipidus, Kidney Donor Profile Index, and Recipient Kidney Function.Transplantation direct · 2026Article
- Vasopressin in cardiogenic shock: pathophysiology, clinical evidence, and therapeutic perspectives.ESC heart failure · 2026Article
- Optimizing recovery of marginal donor hearts with low ejection fraction: A national retrospective study from Switzerland.JHLT open · 2026Article
- Contemporary evidence to inform management of deceased potential thoracic organ donors after brain death.JHLT open · 2026Article
- Standardized evaluation protocols for deceased and living liver donors: a practical framework for emerging liver transplant programs.Frontiers in transplantation · 2026Review
- Anesthetic Management of Brain-Dead Donors During Organ Retrieval: Hemodynamic Effects and Potential Organ-Protective Implications - A Retrospective Analysis of 85 Cases.Transplant international : official journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation · 2026Article
- A comparative analysis of echocardiographic data for heart transplant eligibility in brain death cases.The Egyptian heart journal : (EHJ) : official bulletin of the Egyptian Society of Cardiology · 2025Article
- Management of adult organ donors after brain death in ICU: insights from an Italian survey.Journal of anesthesia, analgesia and critical care · 2025Article
- [Intensive care strategies for organ protection in patients with severe brain damage and imminent or confirmed irreversible brain death].Die Anaesthesiologie · 2025Review
- Heart donation and transplant recipient survival outcomes from deceased organ donors managed in hospital-based vs independent donor care units.The Journal of heart and lung transplantation : the official publication of the International Society for Heart Transplantation · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo provide a practical overview of the management of the potential organ donor in the intensive care unit.
methodsSeven areas of donor management were considered for this review: hemodynamic management; fluids and electrolytes; respiratory management; endocrine management; temperature management; anaemia and coagulation; infection management. For each subchapter, a narrative review was conducted. RESULTS AND
conclusionsMost elements in the current recommendations and guidelines are based on pathophysiological reasoning, epidemiological observations, or extrapolations from general ICU management strategies, and not on evidence from randomized controlled trials. The cardiorespiratory management of brain-dead donors is very similar to the management of critically ill patients, and the same applies to the management of anaemia and coagulation. Central diabetes insipidus is of particular concern, and should be diagnosed based on clinical criteria. Depending on the degree of vasopressor dependency, it can be treated with intermittent desmopressin or continuous vasopressin, intravenously. Temperature management of the donor is an area of uncertainty, but it appears reasonable to strive for a core temperature of > 35 °C. The indications and controversies regarding endocrine therapies, in particular thyroid hormone replacement therapy, and corticosteroid therapy, are discussed. The potential donor should be assessed clinically for infections, and screening tests for specific infections are an essential part of donor management. Although the rate of infection transmission from donor to receptor is low, certain infections are still a formal contraindication to organ donation. However, new antiviral drugs and strategies now allow organ donation from certain infected donors to be done safely.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.