The purpose of this study is to determine the practicality of performing a future, large-scale study. The future study will look at the effect of mechanical ventilation in neurologically deceased (brain-dead) lung donors who are positioned to lay flat on their stomach (prone position), compared to donors who are positioned to lay flat on their back (supine position). The study will also look at the potential impact of prone positioning of the donor on transplant recipients of the study organs.
The investigators are doing this study because the investigators want to increase the availability of donor lungs for lung transplant. Lung transplant is a life-saving treatment for individuals with lung disease, but there are not enough donated lungs to meet demand. Researchers are looking for better ways of preventing donated lungs from becoming unsuitable for transplant. Because of this, the goal of our study is to test whether prone positioning in neurologically deceased (brain-dead) lung donors can improve donor lung function and decrease complications, potentially increasing the number of donor lungs that can be used for transplant.
Age ≥ 18 years
Neurological determination of death at time of study entry
Consent to organ donation
Eligible for organ donation as confirmed by Trillium Gift of Life Network Coordinator
Open chest or abdominal wounds on the ventral body surface
Infection i. Positive HIV, HbsAg, Human T-lymphotropic virus-I/II test results ii. Positive West Nile Virus (WNV PCR) test results iii. Rabies diagnosis or within the last 6 months bitten by an animal proven to have rabies iv. Active endocarditis v. Active encephalitis or meningitis of unknown etiology vi. Active disseminated tuberculosis vii. Viral hemorrhagic fever including Ebola or known exposure to person with Ebola viii. COVID-19 presumptive or confirmed positive in the last 14 days
Malignancy i. Donors with active cancer (donors receiving chemotherapy or radiation therapy or palliative cancer care within the last 5 years); excluding skin and primary brain tumors and prostate cancers.
Lung Cancer
Parallel
Protocolized protective mechanical ventilation in prone position
Other interventionProne Position: Study subjects randomized to the intervention group will be placed and maintained in prone position for at least 16 hours/day until the time of organ procurement or decline (typically 24-48 hours after donation consent) or the time that the lungs are declined for transplant.
This pilot randomized controlled trial will assess the feasibility of conducting a future full randomized clinical trial, specifically, to determine whether donor accrual will be adequate (if we recruit 40 donors from 4 sites over 1 year)
The number of donors enrolled into the trial over 1 year to be placed into either prone positioning or supine positioning prior to lung transplant
To document adherence to the explicit prone positioning and mechanical ventilation protocol (if more than 80% of donors have no major protocol violations then considered adequate)
Number of major protocol violations, specifically: 1. Time from donation consent to randomization \> 3 hours; 2. Time from randomization to initiation of study assigned protocol \> 3 hours; 3. Time spent in prone positioning \< 50% of the total time from study consent to study termination
To document the number of those who cross over to the alternate strategy (if fewer than 10% of donors cross over to the alternate strategy, when not allowed by protocol then considered adequate)
The percentage of donors who cross over to the alternate strategy, when not allowed by protocol
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Lorenzo delSorbo
Lead sponsor
University Health Network, Toronto
Sponsor institution
This trial is not recruiting at the moment. You can still explore other options:
