USA TODAY--Donation Information New England's Organ Bank Body--Organ Donation Information Donor Network of Arizona Eye Banks & Morticians--technical information. 25 FACTS ABOUT ORGAN DONATION AND TRANSPLANTATION The success rates of transplant surgery have improved remarkably, but growing shortages exist in the supply of organs and tissues available for transplantation. Many Americans who need transplants cannot get them because of these shortages. The result: some of these people die while waiting. Each year, the National Kidney Foundation develops special public education programs aimed at increasing public awareness of the need for organ and tissue donation. Learning more about organ and tissue donation will help every American to make an informed decision about this important issue. Here are some facts everyone should know: Anatomical Gift Act and Religious Views on Donation. 1. More than 40,000 U.S. patients are currently waiting for an organ transplant; more than 2,000 new patients are added to the waiting list each month. 2. Every day, about 8 to 9 people die while waiting for a transplant of a vital organ, such as a heart, liver, kidney, pancreas, lung or bone marrow. 3. In 1994, about 11 percent of the patients on the list for heart transplants died while waiting because of the lack of available organs. 4. About 12 percent of the patients currently waiting for liver transplants are young people under 18 years of age. 5. Acceptable organ donors can range in age from newborn to 65 years or more. 6. Acceptable organ donors are those who are "brain dead" (brain function has ceased permanently) but whose heart and lung continue to function with the use of artificial life supports. Brain dead is a legal definition of death. 7. An estimated 10,000 to 14,000 people who die each year meet the criteria for organ donation, but less than half of that number become actual organ donors. 8. Vital organs may be recovered and transported thousands of miles to a transplant center for transplantation. This is due, in part, to advances in preservation techniques. Following are the approximate preservation times for a variety of organs and tissues. Kidney up to 72 hours Liver up to18 hours Heart up to 5 hours Heart/Lung up to 5 hours Pancreas up to 20 hours Corneas up to 10 days Bone Marrow varies by individual program Skin 5 years or more Bone 5 years or more Heart Valves 5 years or more 9. Donor organs are matched to waiting recipients by a national computer registry, called the National Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). This computer registry is operated by an organization known as the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), which is located in Richmond, Virginia. 10. Currently there are 54 organ procurement organizations (OPOs) across the country, which provide organ procurement services to some 279 transplant centers. 11. By federal mandate, all states must have some form of "Required Request" legislation, which requires hospitals within the state to set up a protocol for offering the next-of-kin of someone who has died the option of donating the organs and tissues of the deceased. 12. By signing a Uniform Donor Card, an individual indicates his or her wish to be a donor. However, at the time of death, the person's next-of-kin will still be asked to sign a consent form for donation. It is important for people who wish to be organ and tissue donors to tell their families about this decision so that their wish will be honored at the time of death. It is estimated that about 35% of potential donors are never utilized because family members refuse to give consent. 13. All costs related to the donation of organs and tissues are paid for by the donor program. Rarely a family has received a bill by mistake. If this happens, families should contact the hospital or procurement agency immediately. 14. There were 5,100 cadaver donors in the U.S. in 1994, which represented a small increase over the total of 4,860 in 1993. Living donors increased from 2,803 in 1993 to 2,874 in 1994. 15. Donor organs and tissues are removed surgically, and the donor˙s body is closed, as in any surgery. There is no deformation of the body and open casket funerals are still possible. 16. Organ donation has been low among minority groups. Only 585 African-Americans and 411 Hispanic-Americans donated organs in 1994; this is in sharp contrast to the 3,962 Caucasian-Americans who donated organs in 1994. 17. Organ transplant recipients are also selected on the basis of medical urgency as well as compatibility of body size and blood chemistries and not race, sex or creed. 18. The success rates of all types of organ and tissue transplants have improved due to advances in surgical technique, organ preservation and the development of more effective drugs to prevent rejection. 19. About 80 percent of the kidneys transplanted from cadavers (persons who died recently) are still functioning well at one year after surgery. The results are even better for kidneys transplanted from living related donors because of more closely matched organs. One year after surgery, 93 percent of these kidneys were still functioning well. 20. Following are one-year patient and organ graft survival rates: Organ Patient Survival Rate Graft Survival Rate Kidney (cadaveric) 93% 80% Kidney (live donor) 97% 91% Pancreas 89% 71% Liver 78% 68% Heart 82% 82% Heart-lung 59% 59% Lung 69% 68% 21. Following is a comparison of the numbers of organ transplants done in 1994 and the numbers of individuals who remained on the national waiting list as of July 12, 1995. Number of Transplants Number on Waiting List Organ in 1994 (as of September 13, 1995) Kidney 10,622 29,911 Kidney/Pancreas 746 1,229 Pancreas 102 257 Liver 3,650 5,089 Heart 2,340 3,336 Heart/lung 71 212 Lung 720 1,838 ______ _______ Total 18,251 42,008 22. Of the single kidney transplants performed in 1994, 2,980 were from living donors and 7,642 were from cadaver donors. Another 746 kidneys were transplanted in combination with pancreas transplants, for a total of 11,368 kidney transplants. 23. An estimated 50 bone marrow transplants are performed each month in the U.S. Marrow is collected from volunteer donors under anesthesia by aspiration from a pelvic bone. The majority of bone marrow transplants are done for leukemia. 24. In 1994, there were 43,743 corneal transplants done in the U.S. The number of Americans on waiting lists for corneas averages as high as 5,000 at any given time. Corneal transplantation results in improved vision in nearly 95 percent of those who undergo the procedure because of corneal disorders. Corneas are acceptable for donation regardless of abnormalities in vision. 25. Virtually all religious denominations approve of organ and tissue donation as representing the highest humanitarian ideals and the ultimate charitable act. The National Kidney Foundation is committed to ensuring that everyone who needs a transplant is able to get one. The Foundation's nationwide organ donation program supplies Uniform Donor Cards and free information about organ and tissue donation to the public. Special public information programs are conducted annually to increase public awareness of the importance of organ and tissue donation. April 1996 Data Sources: American Association of Blood Banks, American Association of Tissue Banks, Eye Bank Association of America, National Kidney Foundation, Inc., UNOS Scientific Registry Willed Body Program, College of Medicine University of California, Irvine Parent document is top of "diabetes FAQ: treatment (part 3 of 5)" Previous document is "Type 1 cures -- beta cell implants" Next document is "Type 2 cures -- not even a dream" Type 1 cures -- pancreas transplants Whole pancreas transplants have the same rejection problems as beta cell implants, and also require major surgery. For these reasons, whole pancreas transplants are only used 1) in desperate cases in medical schools with exceptional capabilities, and 2) in conjunction with kidney transplants. Kidney transplants are (relatively) common in diabetics with advanced complications. A kidney recipient is taking immunosuppressant drugs anyway, and the same surgery that implants the kidney can stick in a pancreas with little extra effort or trauma. As a result, the double transplant is now recommended, at least for consideration, for any diabetic patient who requires a kidney transplant. The only disadvantage would seem to be that the pancreas donor must be dead; whereas a living kidney donor is feasible. Even this is not strictly true, as a kidney-plus-partial-pancreas transplant from a living donor is possible, and the partial pancreas contains enough beta cells to produce insulin for the recipient. However, this procedure is seldom performed. The following is from Alexandra Bost . Thanks, Alex! Combination kidney/pancreas transplants are listed in a different queue than kidney-only. Since the number of people waiting for donor kidneys is quite long (anywhere from a few months to seven or eight years), the kidney/ pancreas list is often a quicker means of receiving a transplant. For example, in April 1995 there were 28,519 people on the UNOS [see below] registrations for a kidney transplant. There were only 247 registrations for a pancreas transplant and 1,139 registrations for a kidney-pancreas transplant. [Based on UNOS Scientific Registry data as of February 11, 1994.] Kidney/pancreas transplants, while still considered experimental at some institutions, have been approved by Blue Cross/Blue Shield in the following centers: University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City; University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinic, Minneapolis; Ohio State University Hospitals, Columbus; and University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison. Though this is for BC/BS only, other insurance companies may follow the BC/BS lead if pushed. UNOS (United Network of Organ Sharing) has a list of 109 transplant centers that have pancreas transplant programs. For more information, contact UNOS at (800)24-DONOR. (See the section on sources for WWW, email, other phones.) (end of Alex's part.) The UNOS handles transplant registrations only in the USA, but can provide contact information for organ-donation agencies around the world. The transplant mailing list is an excellent resource. See the section on online resources: mailing lists. Parent document is top of "diabetes FAQ: treatment (part 3 of 5)" Previous document is "Type 1 cures -- beta cell implants" Next document is "Type 2 cures -- not even a dream" United Network for Organ Sharing Facts and Statistics United Network for Organ Sharing U.S. Waiting List Statistics UNOS national patient waiting list for organ transplant contains over 47,000 registrations. On August 14, 1996 there were: 33,282 registrations for a kidney transplant. 6,852 registrations for a liver transplant. 296 registrations for a pancreas transplant. 49 registrations for a pancreas islet cell transplant. 1,372 registrations for a kidney-pancreas transplant. 76 registrations for an intestine transplant. 3,676 registrations for a heart transplant. 223 registrations for a heart-lung transplant. 2,145 registrations for a lung transplant. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 47,970 TOTAL Data based on a snapshot of the UNOS Waiting List on 8/14/96 NOTE: UNOS policies allow patients to be listed with more than one transplant center (multiple listing), and thus the number of registrations may be greater than the actual number of patients. Numbers of Transplants Performed, January-December 1995* 914 kidney-pancreas transplants. 10,891 kidney transplants (3,209 from living donors). 110 pancreas transplants. 3,922 liver transplants. 2,361 heart transplants. 67 heart-lung transplants. 871 lung transplants. ------------------------------------------------------- 19,136 TOTAL *Based on UNOS Scientific Registry data as of June 3, 1996. Double kidney, double lung, heart-lung and kidney pancreas transplants are counted as one transplant. Data subject to change due to future data submission or correction. As of August 1, 1996 UNOS membership included the following: 279 Transplant Centers 4 Consortium Members 54 Independent Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) 54 Independent Tissue Typing Laboratories (TTLs) 12 Voluntary Health Organizations 6 General Public Members 29 Medical/Scientific Organizations -------------------------------------------------------- 438 TOTAL NOTE: Of the 279 transplant centers, 15 have in-house OPOs and 101 have in-house TTLs. Currently, 279 medical institutions in the United States operate an organ transplant program. These transplant centers can be separated into organ specific programs that include the following: 251 Kidney Transplant Programs 118 Liver Transplant Programs 121 Pancreas Transplant Programs 14 Pancreas Islet Cell Transplant Programs 27 Intestine Transplant Programs 166 Heart Transplant Programs 97 Heart-Lung Transplant Programs 93 Lung Transplant Programs UNOS The National Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network  UNOS Back | Home | Next