Background: Transplantation using hearts obtained through donation after circulatory death (DCD) is increasing, but data on recipient renal outcomes are limited. Methods and Results: Patients at a single institution who underwent heart transplantation using organs procured through DCD or donation after brain death (DBD) from April 2016 to August 2022 were included in this retrospective cohort study. Hemodynamic measures were collected via right heart catheterization performed 1 week after transplantation. Posttransplantation renal outcomes included estimated glomerular filtration rate at 1 week, 4 weeks, and 16 weeks, and the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) and renal replacement therapy within 1 week. The analysis included 225 patients (55 recipients of DCD). Baseline characteristics were comparable between recipients of DCD and DBD. Renal outcomes within 1 week posttransplantation in recipients of DCD were similar to recipients of DBD, including percent change in estimated glomerular filtration rate (−37.9% [−58.6 to −6.2] versus −31.9% [−52.4 to −9.9]; P =0.91), incidence of AKI (47.3% versus 46.5%; P >0.99) and incidence of renal replacement therapy (3.6% versus 4.7%; P >0.99). Recipients of DCD with AKI within 1 week (“early AKI”) did not recover to baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (75.8 [60.2–91.3] mL/min per 1.73 m ² ) by week 16 (59.3 [46.9–73.6] mL/min per 1.73 m ² ; P =0.002), whereas recipients without early AKI exhibited comparable estimated glomerular filtration rate to baseline by week 4 (84.5 [70.8–98.5] mL/min per 1.73 m ² ; P =0.084). Similar trends were observed in recipients of DBD. Conclusions: Recipients of DCD demonstrated similar renal outcomes compared with recipients of DBD, supporting the ongoing use of DCD transplantation. Early AKI was associated with persistent renal dysfunction for recipients of both DCD and DBD.

Background. Intraoperative team turnover is necessary given the duration of many cardiac surgical procedures, despite being an established risk factor for harm. We sought to determine if there was an association between intraoperative anesthesia handoff (AH) and patient morbidity and/or mortality after cardiac surgery. Methods. All adult cardiac surgery procedures from November 2016 through November 2021 were retrospectively interrogated for AH. These results were merged with postoperative patient outcomes data and analyzed for morbidity and mortality. Results. A single AH occurred in 1,087/5,937 (18.3%) procedures, and two or more AHs occurred in 224 (3.8%) procedures. Baseline characteristics show that AH is more frequently associated with higher complexity patients and operations. The primary outcome of operative mortality occurred in 113 (2.4%), 54 (5.0%), and 7 (3.1%) patients in the no AH, single AH, and multiple AH cohorts. After multivariable adjustment, the odds ratio for mortality was 1.15 (95% CI 0.79–1.67 and ) for a single AH and 0.83 (95% CI 0.36–1.90 and ) for multiple AH. There were no significant differences in readmission, length of stay, or a composite complication outcome between the cohorts after adjustment. Conclusions. In a large single-center experience, intraoperative anesthesia handoffs were not associated with adverse outcomes after cardiac surgery.