title: Can carbon monoxide-poisoned victims be organ donors?
abstract: The increasing demand for organ allografts to treat end-stage organ failure has driven changes in traditional donor criteria. Patients who have succumbed to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, a common cause of toxicological mortality, are usually rejected as organ donors. To fulfill the increasing demand, selection criteria must be expanded to include CO-poisoned donors. However, the use of allografts exposed to high CO concentrations is still under debate. Basic research and literature review data suggest that patients with brain death caused by CO poisoning should be considered appropriate organ donors. Accepting organs from CO-poisoned victims could increase the number of potential donors and lower the death rate of patients on the waiting lists. This review and reported cases may increase awareness among emergency department physicians, as well as transplant teams, that patients dying of CO exposure may be acceptable organ donors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, Disaster and Critical Care Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Noritomo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fujisaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, Disaster and Critical Care Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsunori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nakao
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, Disaster and Critical Care Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Osako
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, Disaster and Critical Care Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, Disaster and Critical Care Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Taihei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, Disaster and Critical Care Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kohama
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, Disaster and Critical Care Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakata
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, Disaster and Critical Care Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Michiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ishikawa-Aoyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, Disaster and Critical Care Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Joji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kotani
references.citation: Transplantation. 1997 May 15;63(9):1358-60
references.pmid: 9158034
references.citation: CMAJ. 1985 Sep 1;133(5):392-9
references.pmid: 4027805
references.citation: Nat Med. 2000 Apr;6(4):422-8
references.pmid: 10742149
references.citation: Kidney Int. 2011 May;79(10):1080-9
references.pmid: 21270767
references.citation: Transpl Int. 2008 Feb;21(2):113-25
references.pmid: 18062790
references.citation: J Heart Lung Transplant. 1992 Jan-Feb;11(1 Pt 1):68-71
references.pmid: 1540613
references.citation: Undersea Hyperb Med. 2007 May-Jun;34(3):163-8
references.pmid: 17672172
references.citation: Transplantation. 1996 Nov 27;62(10):1514-5
references.pmid: 8958283
references.citation: J Cell Mol Med. 2006 Jul-Sep;10(3):650-71
references.pmid: 16989726
references.citation: Transplant Proc. 2008 Jan-Feb;40(1):324-5
references.pmid: 18261619
references.citation: Curr Pharm Biotechnol. 2012 May;13(6):827-36
references.pmid: 22201609
references.citation: Crit Care. 2003 Apr;7(2):147-54
references.pmid: 12720561
references.citation: Ann Clin Lab Sci. 1976 Jul-Aug;6(4):372-6
references.pmid: 962299
references.citation: J Heart Lung Transplant. 1992 Jul-Aug;11(4 Pt 1):698-700
references.pmid: 1498134
references.citation: Ann Emerg Med. 1995 Nov;26(5):652-5
references.pmid: 7486378
references.citation: JAMA. 2006 Jan 25;295(4):398-402
references.pmid: 16434630
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 1992 Jun 4;326(23):1571
references.pmid: 1579150
references.citation: FASEB J. 2004 Apr;18(6):771-2
references.pmid: 14977880
references.citation: J Toxicol Clin Toxicol. 1995;33(6):709-12
references.pmid: 8523498
references.citation: FASEB J. 2007 Sep;21(11):2840-8
references.pmid: 17475921
references.citation: J Heart Lung Transplant. 2001 Dec;20(12):1345-8
references.pmid: 11744421
references.citation: Atherosclerosis. 1974 Sep-Oct;20(2):233-40
references.pmid: 4412311
references.citation: J Heart Lung Transplant. 1993 May-Jun;12(3):499-500
references.pmid: 8329425
references.citation: Am J Emerg Med. 1994 Mar;12(2):151-4
references.pmid: 8161385
references.citation: Transplant Proc. 2008 Jun;40(5):1563-5
references.pmid: 18589152
references.citation: J Heart Transplant. 1989 Sep-Oct;8(5):422-4
references.pmid: 2795286
references.citation: Ann Thorac Surg. 2001 Apr;71(4):1194-7
references.pmid: 11308158
references.citation: Crit Care Clin. 1999 Apr;15(2):297-317, viii
references.pmid: 10331130
references.citation: Crit Rev Toxicol. 2002 Jul;32(4):259-89
references.pmid: 12184505
references.citation: Biochem Pharmacol. 1989 Apr 15;38(8):1368-70
references.pmid: 2539825
references.citation: Ann Thorac Surg. 2001 Sep;72(3):709-13
references.pmid: 11565645
references.citation: Transplant Proc. 2007 Nov;39(9):2928-9
references.pmid: 18022019
references.citation: Transplantation. 2006 Oct 15;82(7):938-44
references.pmid: 17038910