Beating heart cadaver
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. A beating heart cadaver is a human body that though dead in all medical and legal definitions is attached to a medical ventilator and retains cardio-pulmonary functions. This will keep the organs of the dead body, including the heart, functioning and alive for a few days.[1] As a result, the period of time in which the organs may be used for transplantation is extended.
Contents
Care
Caring for a beating heart cadaver is similar to caring for a living patient. Since the brain has stopped functioning, the hormone levels and blood pressure must be regulated by intensive care unit (ICU) personnel.[2] The protocol for preserving the cadaver aims to prevent infection and maintain adequate oxygenation of tissue.[3] The cadaver's status must be continuously monitored, so that ICU staff can prevent organ failure or quickly operate to save threatened organs.[2]
Organ recovery
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. A beating heart cadaver is kept alive in order to keep its organs from decaying before they can be transplanted. Surgeons will remove the organs, one after the other, and have them transferred to the recipients' treating teams.[1] The entire recovery process is usually completed within four hours.[3] This process was formerly known as an "organ harvest", but the name has since changed to the milder "organ recovery."[1] Many organs can be extracted, and many lives can be saved by one body. The bodies are generally those of organ donors, who have either given first person consent to become an organ donor, presumptive consent by not explicitly declining to donate [4] or whose legal next-of-kin makes the decision to donate.[5] Some donated organs are taken from non-heart-beating donors.[6] Organs from brain deaths, however, have a better success rate, and currently most organ donation is from these deaths.[7]
Brain death and pregnancy
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Pregnancy can be prolonged after brain death in order to allow the fetus to reach full-term. It is then possible to deliver the baby by means of caesarian section.[8] Cadavers have been reported to support a fetus for a period of 107 days. After delivering the baby, some cadavers have subsequently become organ donors.[9]
Social issues
Being faced with a beating heart cadaver is often a disturbing and confusing experience. Because the heart is beating and the body is warm, people may have difficulty believing the person is dead. Families often like to see the body once it has been removed from the machines and "put to rest".[3]
Cultural references
Award winning Canadian writer Colleen Murphy's play Beating Heart Cadaver had its premiere in the United Kingdom on 3 April 2011 at the Finborough Theatre, London.
See also
- Heart transplantation
- Organ donation
- Transplant surgery
- Brain stem death
- Non-heart-beating donation
- Legal death
- Clinical death
- Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Roach, Mary. Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2003. Print.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Roach, p. 170.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Beating Heart Cadaver." Surgery Door. Web. 4 March 2010. <http://www.surgerydoor.co.uk/advice/organ-donation/beating-heart-donor/>.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "Her Donated Organs Changed Lives of Many." San Diego News, Local, California and National News - SignOnSanDiego.com. Web. 4 March 2010. <http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/feb/27/her-donated-organs-changed-lives-of-many/>.
- ↑ "Physicians For Life - Abstinence, Abortion, Birth Control - Brain Death or NHBD." Physicians For Life - Abstinence, Abortion, Birth Control - Home. Web. 4 March 2010. <http://www.physiciansforlife.org/content/view/166/33/>.
- ↑ "Organ Donation - What Does Organ Donation After Brain Death Mean." All About Surgery-Understanding Surgery from A to Z-Surgery Information-Surgery 101. Web. 3 March 2010. <http://surgery.about.com/od/proceduresaz/ss/OrganDonation_3.htm>.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
