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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Transplant.
Sec. Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frtra.2024.1520970
This article is part of the Research Topic Women in Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation View all 5 articles

Vascularized Composite Allograft (VCA) Deceased Donation in the United States

Provisionally accepted
Wida S Cherikh Wida S Cherikh 1*Samantha M Noreen Samantha M Noreen 1Alexandra Lewis Alexandra Lewis 1Sarah Booker Sarah Booker 1Jesse Howell Jesse Howell 1Erin Schnellinger Erin Schnellinger 1Jennifer Wainright Jennifer Wainright 1Christopher Curran Christopher Curran 2
  • 1 United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), Richmond, United States
  • 2 New England Donor Services, Waltham, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Vascularized composite allograft (VCA) transplantation represents a significant advancement in reconstructive surgery and offers hope to individuals who experienced congenital disorders or severe tissue injuries to restore physical appearance, function, and enhance quality of life. VCA recovery introduces complexities to conventional solid organ recovery, and there remain concerns regarding the potential impact of VCA recovery on non-VCA organs for transplant. The current retrospective study examines deceased donor characteristics and observed-to-expected (O/E) organ yield ratios for 51 VCA donors recovered in the US between July 4, 2014 and March 31, 2024, compared with a contemporary cohort of non-VCA donors recovered in 2023. Among the VCA donors, 17 donated a uterus, 15 each donated head and neck and upper limbs, 4 were abdominal wall donors, and 2 donated external male genitalia. The findings indicate that VCA donors tended to be younger (18-34 years old), predominantly White, non-Hispanic, and had no history of diabetes, along with lower weight, lower kidney donor profile index, and lower ejection fraction. The analysis revealed that VCA donors had higher observed overall organ yield than expected (O/E: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.16-1.33), with better-than-expected organ yields across VCA types. The number of deceased VCA donors in the US is still relatively small compared to the overall donor population. As the field continues to evolve and more data becomes available, further analyses need to be conducted to understand the demographics of VCA donors and the potential impact of VCA donation within the donation and transplant system.

    Keywords: Vascularized composite allograft, VCA, Deceased donor, organ yield, observed-toexpected organ yield

    Received: 01 Nov 2024; Accepted: 09 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Cherikh, Noreen, Lewis, Booker, Howell, Schnellinger, Wainright and Curran. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Wida S Cherikh, United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), Richmond, United States

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