in focus
Proportion of deceased donors with a history of IV drug use and death due to drug overdose during 2008 and 2018 by region
Based on data from the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).
If an organ donor is an active intravenous drug user, their risk of acute hepatitis C (HCV) infection is higher than almost any other behavioral risk factor.
The increasing opiate epidemic in the U.S. has impacted every region. Because of this tragedy, more transplants, especially those from donors that could place the potential recipient at increased risk of disease transmission, are being completed.
Though there is research detailing the successful use of organs from donors who are currently using and abusing drugs, challenges remain and clinicians and patients continue to be cautious, especially regarding the risks of inadvertently acquiring viral hepatitis and/or HIV.
Fortunately, hepatitis B remains relatively uncommon in the U.S. and unanticipated HIV transmissions have not been documented since the new Public Health Service (PHS) Increased Risk Guidelines were put into place in 2013. The safety and efficacy of HCV treatments in transplant is improving day by day, but according to cases studied in 2018 by the OPTN Ad Hoc Disease Transmission Advisory Committee (DTAC), unexpected hepatitis C (HCV) donor-derived transmissions have been on the rise.
Read more about the committee’s findings and an update on its work presented at the spring 2019 regional meetings.
In focus
LifeLink of Georgia nearly triples African-American donors
Through focused quality improvement and education practices, LifeLink of Georgia has almost tripled recovery of African-American donors.
New CARE tool visualizes organ acceptance and refusal
Center Acceptance and Refusal Evaluation (CARE) Report allows transplant centers to see all of the offers they accept as well as all those they refuse.
OPOs set records for organ donation in 2018
71 percent of organ procurement organizations increased organ donations in 2018, thanks to the generosity of donors and donor families.
Lung and liver perfusion on the rise
Lung perfusion has more than tripled since 2015, growing from 1.7 percent to 6.3 percent and potentially expanding the pool of organs available for transplant.