How is a dcd liver transplant different from other transplants?

Cardiac Death Occurs: The term dcd (donation after cardiac death) means the donor died of cardiac failure rather than brain death. In either case the donor suffered an irreversible brain injury and are kept alive by mechanical life support. The dcd donors also undergo a period of low blood pressure when taken off life support and their organs may sustain further injury. Properly selected dcd organs can work fine.

More postop problem: Dcd stands for "donation after cardiac death". During the procurement the liver is subject to prolonged periods of warm ischemia which often translates into higher ischemic injury of the graft and higher complication rates post transplant. The most feared complication following dcd transplant is ischemic cholangiopathy which occurs in up to 1/3 of the cases. Re-transplant is often necessary