« A national first “. In a press release dated March 9, the Toulouse University Hospital announced that it had successfully performed a transplant “ simultaneous » of a kidney and pancreatic islets[1]both from the same donor Maastricht 3, that is to say died after cardiac arrest following a decision to stop treatment (see Euthanasia, Maastricht III: Canada in search of hearts to transplant). “ A feat made particularly complex on a medical and logistical level, due to the specific constraints linked to this type of donor “, affirms the CHU.
The patient who benefited from the double transplant suffered from type 1 diabetes and kidney failure requiring dialysis for several years. “ Due to major vascular constraints, combined kidney-pancreas transplantation could not be considered » specifies the press release.
Authorization to collect hearts
The day before the announcement of this “first”, a decree published in Official Journalindicated that “ after the kidney, liver, lung and pancreas, the heart is now on the list of organs for which removal from a deceased person with persistent cardiac and respiratory arrest is authorized ».
This new provision follows a proposal from the Biomedicine Agency (ABM) (see “The donation of products from the human body”: an OPECST hearing to promote. And question?).
Nearly half of donors in the United States
In the United States, the practice is also developing. Indeed, from a practice “ rare “, she became ” current » according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association[2] : analysis by NYU Langone Health shows that donors in a state of circulatory death have increased from 2% of all donors in 2000 to 49% in 2025. This rate reaches 73% in certain regions (see Transplantation: the American College of Physicians is concerned about certain samples).
A “result” obtained by the development of new techniques. For example, normothermic regional perfusion temporarily restores blood flow to organs that will be donated after cardiac arrest, and artificial perfusion devices pump nutrient- and oxygen-rich fluid through organs after they are removed (see Organ donation: the definition of death called into question?; “Partial resuscitation,” a new organ procurement protocol).
[1] Pancreatic islets, also called islets of Langerhans, are cells in the pancreas capable of producing insulin. In people with type 1 diabetes, these cells are destroyed by the immune system. The islet transplant of Langerhans aims to “ improve sustainably » the patient’s glycemic balance and protect the transplanted kidney by limiting the risk of recurrence of diabetes on the graft
[2] Changes in Organ Donation After Circulatory Death in the United States, JAMA (2026)
Sources of the press summary: Medical Xpress, NYU Langone Health (26/02/2026) ; Hospimedia, Pia Hémery (09/03/2026) ; CHU Toulouse (09/03/2026) ; JIM, Quentin Haroche (11/03/2026)
