Caring for brain dead patients 'increases transplantable organs'
Thursday 31st March 2011
Many more organs could be available for transplant if hospital doctors were to work with organ procurement organisation coordinators in order to ensure better preservation, a study has shown.
Research published online in the American Journal of Transplantation found that more than double the number of lungs, and almost 50 per cent more kidneys could be retrieved if donor bodies were properly managed and monitored after brain death has taken place.
Kai Singbartl, from the University of Pittsburgh, explained that his team cared for donors for a number of hours per day.
"The number of donors in our study is not large enough to determine whether a particular medical intervention played a key role, but it's very clear from our experience that this team approach did make a difference."
Lung transplants are commonly offered to people in the last stages of lung disease due to conditions such as cystic fibrosis, emphysema and lung cancer.
Written by Martin Lambert
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