in focus
For the first time ever, more than 10,000 liver transplants were performed in a year.
In 2023, the U.S. organ donation and transplant community continued a record-breaking trend that started eleven years ago. 10,660 liver transplants were performed last year, more than ever recorded in a single year, and more than 10,000 for the first time ever.
Eleven years of all-time high numbers of liver transplants wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of organ donors and their families, and the hard work of the countless members of the Organ Donation and Transplantation Network (OPTN). This historic streak also comes in the wake of the OPTN’s work to enact policies such as changes to MELD and PELD calculations to ensure that more people have access to lifesaving transplants.
More changes to liver allocation are coming soon. The Offer Filters tool is being developed for liver allocation in 2024, and the OPTN liver committee is continuing to develop a policy based on continuous distribution. Read more about continuous distribution here.
How do we track policy success?
We look at the data.
Liver transplants* increased by 4.3 percent since policy implementation.
In focus
Research in focus: examining organ offers
Three recent studies from UNOS researchers examine offer acceptance practices and impact of Offer Filters tool.
New milestone reached in kidney donation and transplant
For the first time, more than 25,000 kidney transplants were performed in a single year
New animation for patients explains the lung Composite Allocation Score (CAS)
New patient-friendly video explains the factors that will determine lung allocation in the continuous distribution framework.
More than 15,000 liver transplants performed in first two years of acuity circles policy
Two-year monitoring shows many states had volume changes within 10 percent of previous policy.
