A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials of thyroid hormone administration to brain dead potential organ donors

Abstract

Objectives: To review all published clinical studies of thyroid hormone administration to brain-dead potential organ donors. Methods: A search of PubMed using multiple search terms retrieved 401 publications including 35 original reports describing administration of thyroid hormone to brain-dead potential organ donors. Detailed review of the 35 original reports led to identification of two additional publications not retrieved in the original search. The 37 original publications reported findings from 16 separate case series or retrospective audits and seven randomized controlled trials, four of which were placebo-controlled. Meta-analysis was restricted to the four placebo-controlled random..