Organ transplantation in the United States is undergoing a measurable structural shift. Donation after circulatory death, once a marginal source of organs, now accounts for nearly half of all deceased donors. Two decades ago it represented only a small fraction of total donations. Today it sits alongside traditional brain death donation as a primary pillar of transplant supply.
Historically, most organs were recovered from donors declared brain dead while circulation was maintained. That allowed organs to remain oxygenated until retrieval. Donation after circulatory death follows a different pathway. In these cases, life-sustaining treatment is withdrawn in patients with no prospect of recovery, death is declared after the heart stops and a mandatory observation period has elapsed, and organ recovery proceeds under established protocols. The approach expands the donor pool by including patients who would not have met neurological criteria for death.
This expansion has been enabled by improvements in organ preservation. Organs exposed to a period without blood flow are vulnerable to injury, which previously limited their use. Advances in perfusion systems that restore circulation regionally or maintain organs in controlled conditions outside the body have improved viability and broadened clinical confidence. As a result, kidneys and livers from circulatory death donors are now widely transplanted, with growing use in lungs and hearts.
Verici Dx Plc (LON:VRCI) is developing a complementary suite of proprietary, leading-edge tests forming a kidney transplant diagnostics platform for personalised patient and organ response risk to assist clinicians in medical management for improved patient outcomes.
