Another Record Year for Organ Transplants

— Advances in science, attitude changes play roles

MedpageToday

For the fourth year in a row, U.S. physicians set a record for the total number of organ transplants performed, with 33,606 procedures in 2016, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).

That's an increase of 8.5% from 2015 and 20% increase since 2012 in total organ transplants, including heart, kidney, liver, pancreas, lung, intestine, and multi-organ procedures.

Most of the increase was in procedures involving deceased donors. Such donations grew by nearly 11%, as compared to a 6% increase from living donors. The vast majority of transplants overall -- 82% -- involved deceased donors. (Some procedures, of course, can only be done with deceased donors.)

Part of the increase in donations from deceased donors can be tied to medical or policy advances. Donations from people who died after circulatory death (versus brain death) were more likely to be usable in transplants. Doctors were also increasingly willing to consider organs from individuals with adverse health indicators -- such as high risk of bloodborne disease, or death from drug overdose -- that once would have made them flatly ineligible for donation.

UNOS officials painted such increases as a result of the organization's efforts.

"Among our key goals as the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, working with our members nationwide, is to ensure that as many organs as possible are accepted and used for the patients who will benefit from them the most, while maintaining high levels of patient safety," said David Klassen, MD, UNOS's chief medical officer, in a statement.