Effective Jan. 10, 2024, two guidance documents have been updated and re-published on the OPTN website:
- Guidance on Optimizing Vascularized Composite Allograft (VCA) Recovery
- Recognizing Seasonal and Geographically Endemic Infections in Organ Donors: Considerations during Deceased and Living Donor Evaluation
Both are updates to existing guidance documents. The VCA document, previously focused on deceased donor recovery, now contains information for both living and deceased donation and provides additional information on uterus transplantation. Additional detail is available here.
The seasonal and geographically endemic infection guidance document consolidates content that previously had been contained in four separate guidance documents. It also contains updates relating to nomenclature, testing, and potential donor-derived transmission event data. Additional information is available here.
Appropriate staff at organ procurement organizations and transplant programs should become familiar with the documents. While they are intended as guidance and are not OPTN policy or bylaw requirements, the recommendations may affect clinical decisions or protocols regarding evaluation of potential deceased or living donors, as well as management of transplant recipients known or suspected to be at risk of donor disease transmission.
