ANALYSIS OF ORGAN DONATION TIME FROM BRAIN-DEAD DONORS FOR VASCULARIZED COMPOSITE TISSUE ALLOTRANSPLANTATION PREPARATION IN KOREA

Face transplantation has naturally evolved from reconstruction and transplantation. Difficulties in performing face transplantation limit approvals by the institution for such transplantations to take place. The other is whether the non-vital organ face transplantation is suitable for the organ transplantation process. Therefore, we analyzed the process of previously donated organ from brain-dead patients and suggest its utility in such cases. A retrospective data review was performed on 648 brain-dead patients in Korea. We analyzed brain death time from admission to transplantation donation, the cause of brain death, and the state of the transplanted organs. We also analyzed the time from admission to final brain death. When face transplantation is performed in Korea, the transplantation team has an average of 14 hours 35 minutes to prepare after the first brain death decision. Although head trauma is not the same as facial trauma, the cause of approximately one-third of brain death is from head trauma; therefore, surgeons should be aware that the facial tissue may be compromised in such cases.