Rise in organ transplants after cardiac death in U.S., Europe

Mainichi Shinbum Japan


BRUSSELS -- There has been a sharp rise in organ transplants following cardiac death in North America and Europe, the Mainichi has found.

Using figures released by governmental and public organizations, the Mainichi Shimbun determined the upward trend in the Netherlands, Britain, Belgium, and the United States.

The liver and lungs, which until now could not be donated except in the case of brain death, are now being harvested from 20 to 50 percent of cardiac-death donors in these countries using the cardiac-death transplantation method, which involves turning off a donor's life support system and waiting for cardiac death before harvesting the organs. All but the heart can be harvested through this method, which is helping countries get around donor shortages. Such new developments are expected to affect the debate around organ donations in Japan.

The Mainichi compared the percentage of cardiac-death donations and brain-death donations after ceasing life support and found that the Netherlands, one of the first countries to implement the new technique, saw a rise in organ transplants after cardiac death starting in the late 1990s. By 2004, such transplants constituted around 40 percent of all organ donations in the country, and in 2011, they surpassed the number of transplants after brain death, at 50.2 percent.

Cardiac-death transplants likewise surged in Britain starting in the 2000s, reaching 40 percent of all organ donations in 2011. Belgium, meanwhile, saw no cardiac-death donations through 2002, but last year, the figure reached 18.6 percent. Numbers rose in the U.S. as well, with cardiac-death donations comprising over 12.9 percent -- or over 1,000 cases -- of all organ donations.

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