The donor management algorithm in transplantation of a composite facial tissue allograft.. First experience in Russia

In the period from 2005 to December 2015, 37 transplantations of vascularized composite facial tissue allografts (VCAs) were performed in the world. A vascularized composite tissue allotransplantation has been recognized as a solid organ transplantation rather than a special kind of tissue transplantation. The recent classification of composite tissue allografts into the category of donor organs gave rise to a number of organizational, ethical, legal, technical, and economic problems. In May 2015, the first successful transplantation of a composite facial tissue allograft was performed in Russia. The article describes our experience of multiple team interactions at donor management stage when involved in the identification, conditioning, harvesting, and delivering donor organs to various hospitals. A man, aged 51 years old, diagnosed with traumatic brain injury became a donor after the diagnosis of brain death
had been made, his death had been ascertained, and the requested consent for organ donation had been obtained from relatives. At donor management stage, a tracheostomy was performed and a posthumous facial mask was molded. The "face first, concurrent completion" algorithm was chosen for organ harvesting and facial VCA procurement; meanwhile, the facial allograft was procured as the "full face" category. The total surgery duration from the incision to completing the procurement (including that of solid organs) made 8 hours 20 minutes. Immediately after the procurement, the facial VCA complex was sent to the St. Petersburg clinic by medical aircraft transportation, and was there transplanted 9 hours later. Donor kidneys were transported to Moscow by
civil aviation and transplanted 17 and 20 hours later. The authors believe that this clinical case report demonstrates the feasibility and safety of multiple harvesting of solid organs and a vascularized composite facial tissue allograft. However, this kind of surgery requires an essential multidisciplinary approach. Establishing of facial VCA transplantation Program is a complicated process for transplant centers and can hardly be implemented without a properly organized post-mortem organ donation system at a national level. Today these criteria are met only by the Coordination Center for Organ Donation at FMBA of Russia.

facial tissue transplantation, multiorgan donor, coordination of organ donation, requested consent,, organ harvesting for transplantation

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