Profession

Organ transplant record set in 2004

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 18, 2005

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A record 27,025 Americans received organ transplants in 2004, the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services reported in March. Of those transplants, 20,035 organs came from 7,150 deceased donors and a record 6,990 organs came from living donors.

The totals represented an approximately 11% increase in transplants over 2003 figures. That marks the second-highest annual increase since national records collection began in 1987.

The United Network for Organ Sharing cited HHS's Health Resources and Services Administration's "Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative" as having a positive impact on the upward trend. The program takes the best practices of hospitals with high-donation rates and replicates them elsewhere.

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network reported that 6,228 people died in 2004 waiting for an organ. That was 283 fewer than the 2003 total. There were 87,856 Americans on the organ transplant waiting list as of March 31, according to UNOS.

Preliminary information from OPTN indicates that the number of kidney transplants increased more than 5% in 2004 and liver transplants increased nearly 9%.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/04/18/prbf0418.htm.

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