First brain-dead organ donor in Japan told family he wanted to give his organs
Source: Mainichi Daily News
A man in his 20s whose organs are being transplanted to a number of recipients had told his family while they were watching a TV program on the organ transplant issue that he wanted to become a donor in the case of his death.
The man became the first case to be declared a brain dead donor based solely on his family's approval despite the absence of his own written consent since the revised Organ Transplant Law came into effect last month.
According to the Japan Organ Transplant Network, the man was hospitalized after being injured in a traffic accident. Since he had told his family he intended to provide his organs, his family members agreed to the donation. It has not been revealed when the man told the family about his intention nor if he meant organ donation in a state of brain death or cardiac arrest.
"In the latest case, the donor had told his family of his intent to donate his organs, but under the revised Organ Transplant Law, brain-dead patients without donor cards are also eligible to donate organs. It would be hard for family members to decide whether to donate their loved ones' organs if their views on the issue were unclear. It is important to discuss the matter among family members in their daily lives," said Satoshi Teraoka, president of the Japan Society for Transplantation (JST).
Operations to harvest organs from the man started at 3:14 a.m. on Aug. 10 and ran until shortly before 6 a.m. His organs were then rushed to five hospitals across the nation for organ transplant surgery.
According to the Japan Organ Transplant Network, the man's heart was airlifted by helicopter and chartered plane to the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Osaka Prefecture for a man in his 20s suffering from severe heart disease.
The man's lungs are being transplanted to a chronic lung disease patient in his 20s at Okayama University Hospital; his liver to a woman in her 60s with viral liver cirrhosis at the University of Tokyo Hospital; one of his kidneys to a male teenager with a kidney disorder at Gunma University Hospital; and the other kidney and his pancreas to a patient in her 50s with type 1 diabetes at Fujita Health University Hospital in Aichi Prefecture.
臓器移植：家族承諾で移植 テレビ見て男性共感、提供の意思伝える
本人の書面による意思表示なしに家族の承諾で脳死判定が行われ、改正臓器移植法に基づいて初めて脳死と判定された２０代の男性が、家族で臓器移植関連のテレビを見ていた時に提供の意思があることを話していたことが分かった。
日本臓器移植ネットワークによると、男性は交通事故による外傷で入院。家族には万一の時は臓器を提供してもいいという意向を伝えており、家族の総意で脳死臓器提供を決めた。男性が家族に話した時期や、臓器提供が脳死下を指すのか心停止下を指すのかは明らかにされていない。
寺岡慧（さとし）・日本移植学会理事長は「改正法では本人が意思表示をしていなくても脳死臓器提供の対象となる。意思が分からなければ、決断する家族も大変だろう。日ごろから家族で話し合っておくことが大切だ」と話す。
◇全国５カ所で手術が始まる
男性からの臓器摘出手術は、１０日午前３時１４分に始まり、同６時前に終了した。臓器は全国５カ所の病院へ運ばれ、移植手術が始まった。同ネットワークによると、心臓はヘリコプターやチャーター機で国立循環器病研究センター（大阪府）に搬送され、肥大型心筋症の２０代男性への移植手術が始まった。
肺は、岡山大病院でびまん性汎細気管支炎の２０代男性へ、肝臓は東大病院でＣ型ウイルス性肝硬変の６０代女性へ、腎臓の一つは群馬大病院で低形成腎の１０代男性へ、もう一つの腎臓と膵臓（すいぞう）は藤田保健衛生大病院（愛知県）で１型糖尿病の５０代女性に移植される。【藤野基文】
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