Heart failure & cardiomyopathiesCohort study
Superior Waitlist Outcomes Among Patients Listed for Donation After Circulatory Death Heart Transplantation
- Retrospective cohort study
- UNOS registry
Authors' conclusion
With exception of status 1, patients waitlisted for DCD hearts experience shorter waitlist duration, improved rates of transplantation, and comparable long-term survival with donation after brain death recipients.
Study context
- Population
- Adults waitlisted for isolated heart transplantation in the US (UNOS), October 2018–June 2024
- Participants
- 24,970 adults
- Exposure
- Listing for DCD hearts vs donation after brain death hearts only
- DCDn = 8,191
- Outcome
- Waitlist and post-transplant outcomes, stratified by listing status
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Waitlist outcomes
- DCD status 2, 3, 4 and 6 more likely to be transplanted and less likely to die on the waitlist
- No differences in post-transplant survival in any group
- Receipt of a DCD heart not predictive of mortality
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Transplantation, DCD candidates at listing vs later during waitlist
- Initially listed DCD candidates significantly more likely to be transplanted
Original publication
Superior Waitlist Outcomes Among Patients Listed for Donation After Circulatory Death Heart Transplantation. JACC Heart Fail. Published 16 June 2025. doi:10.1016/j.jchf.2025.03.039
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it