Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42698497›Full record

ArticleTransplant international : official journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation2026

Potential for donation after circulatory death in Germany: a multicenter retrospective study at seven university hospitals.

Jan Sönke Englbrecht, Daniel Schrader, Rainer Kram, Holger Kraus, Melanie Schäfer, Barbara Stolzenberg, Dirk Schedler, Juliane Langer, Felix Lehmann, Johannes Weller and 4 more

Abstract readMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Transplant international : official journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Jan Sönke EnglbrechtDepartment of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany.
Daniel SchraderThe Medical Director's Staff Division of Organ Donation Coordination, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Rainer KramDepartment of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Holger KrausUniversity Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Melanie SchäferDepartment of Intensive Care Medicine, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Aachen, Germany.
Barbara StolzenbergRWTH Aachen University Hospital, Aachen, Germany.
Dirk SchedlerThe Medical Director's Staff Division of Organ Donation Coordination, University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Juliane LangerUniversity Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Felix LehmannDepartment of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Johannes WellerCenter for Neurology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Robert WerdehausenDepartment of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medicine Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
Marleen WeißDepartment of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medicine Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
Svitlana ZiganshynaUniversity of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany.
Martin SoehleDepartment of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Many countries have established donation after circulatory death (DCD) in addition to donation after brain death (DBD). In Germany, DCD is not permitted, and its potential to increase organ donation rates has not yet been quantified. We retrospectively identified all deceased with brain injury between 2023-2024 at seven German university hospitals. Eligible DCD donors were defined as patients with preserved brainstem reflexes precluding DBD donation, documented consent or an unknown donation preference, and death occurring within 120 min after withdrawal of life-sustaining measures. For patients with unknown preference, a consent rate of 40% was assumed. Among 4,587 deceased, 1,509 had preserved brainstem reflexes as the main reason against DBD. Of these, 58 patients with documented consent and 212 patients with an unknown donation preference died within 120 min after treatment withdrawal. Compared with 128 utilized DBD donors, this corresponds to an additional theoretical DCD potential of 45% based solely on documented consent. When applying the assumed consent rate to patients with an unknown preference, the hypothetical increase reaches 112%. The introduction of a DCD program could substantially increase organ donation rates at German university hospitals. However, its actual impact would depend on establishing appropriate legal, organizational, and ethical frameworks.

Indexed as

Brain DeathTissue and Organ ProcurementTissue DonorsAdultAgedFemaleGermanyHospitals, UniversityHumansInformed ConsentMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective Studiesbrain deathcirculatory arrestconsentorgan donationwithdrawal of life-sustaining measures

Identifiers

PMID42698497
PMCPMC13541643

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.