NCT Number: NCT07698262
Brain-based Prediction of the Dying Duration in Humans After Withdrawal of Life Sustaining Therapies to Inform Donation After Circulatory Death
The purpose of this study is to develop a new tool that uses information collected before life-sustaining treatments are withdrawn to better predict whether a patient will die within the time needed for organ donation to be possible. The tool created should help improve planning for organ donation and provide families and healthcare teams with more accurate information.
Trial opening soon.
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Conditions
Age range
19 year and older
Sex eligibility
All sexes
Study type
Observational
Primary location
Cumming School of Medicine, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Who can participate
Healthy volunteers accepted: No
Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.
Inclusion criteria
- Age ≥ 19;
- Eligible for DCD
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria
will consist of :
- concurrent vasopressor doses of norepinephrine >0.05 mcg/kg/min (or dose equivalent)
- PaO2/FiO2 ratio <150 mmHg
- complete high cervical spinal cord injury (C5 and above)
- cardiac support devices (e.g., ECMO, balloon pump, ventricular assist device)
- pacemaker in situ
- tracheostomy
Treatment and study plan
Primary outcomes
-
To develop a clinically applicable model to predict dying duration in a cohort of patient eligible for donation after circulatory death
Time frame: The models will be built to predict death within 30, 60 and 120 minutes
Specifically, we aim at assessing the predictive ability of blood-based brain biomarkers, optic nerve sheet diameter as measured by head computed tomography (CT) scans as a surrogate of intracranial pressure and autonomic dysfunction as reflected by abnormal heart rate variability (HRV) to predict the dying duration.
Secondary outcomes
-
Comparison of the brain-to-heart model to existing models
Time frame: The models will be compared for death within 30, 60 and 120 minutes
Our secondary aim will be to compare the created models with available models (e.g., DCD-N, UNOS, Wisconsin) and to physician gestalt
Study contacts
Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.
Sponsors and collaborators
Lead sponsor
University of British Columbia
Other
Collaborators
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Registry information
Acronym: NeuroDCD
Important dates
- Study start
- 2027
- Primary completion
- 2030
- Study completion
- 2030
- First posted
- Jul 13, 2026
- Registry last updated
- Jul 13, 2026
OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.
View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.