Decade-Long Surge in U.S. Living-Donor Transplants Slows

The surge in the number of living donors in the United States, which since 1990 has seen a trebling in living-donor transplants conducted each year, slowed considerably in 2002 and shows signs of further backing off this year, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).

The total number of living donors in 2002 outnumbered cadaver donors for the second consecutive year, 6,613 to 6,182, according to the UNOS, which runs the nation's transplant network. In 2001, the number of living donors passed the number of cadaver donors for the first time, totaling 6,455 to 6,077.

But interestingly, the number of living donors increased by only about 3 percent in 2002 compared to a 12.5 percent jump the previous year. And early returns from 2003 show a further slowing taking place.

Some 2,718 living donor transplants were performed in the first five months of this year, according to UNOS. Projected at the same rate, the number of living donors would total only 6,523 for the entire year.

Some experts suggest an explanation for the leveling off may be that many of the most motivated living donors have already stepped forward, with the challenge of persuading new donors rendered more difficult by the lack of detailed information about the risks.

While donor deaths are rare, post-operative complications are far from unknown. But at present, there is no central database where prospective donors can obtain unbiased information about side effects, time lost from work, pain, discomfort and expenses.

The UNOS Board of Directors in June adopted a series of measures designed to more fully assess and report the medical risks associated with living organ donation.

UNOS approved refinements to forms used to collect medical followup data on living donors, and Dr. Andrew Klein, chair of the Living Donor Committee, said information derived from the data will "help quantify what the risks are and what patients can expect."

Other Sources: UNOS