Absence of residual Hodgkin’s disease demonstrated by PET/CT in a deceased organ donor

With the current limited availability of organs for transplantation, it is important to consider marginal donor candidates, including survivors of potentially curable malignancies such as lymphoma. The absence of refractory/recurrent residual disease at the time of brain death can be difficult to establish. Therefore, it is critical to have objective data to decide whether to proceed or not with organ procurement and transplantation. We report a unique situation in which (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) was used to rule out Hodgkin's lymphoma recurrence in a 33-year-old, heart-beating, brain-dead, potential donor with a past history of Hodgkin's disease and a persistent mediastinal mass. PET showed no significant uptake in the mass, allowing organ donation and transplantation to occur. We present a new means of evaluating potential brain-dead donors with a past history of some lymphoma, whereby PET may help transplant physicians by optimizing donation safety while rationalizing the inclusion of marginal donors.