Organs from less-than-ideal donors are saving patients' lives

[Bozita]

Organs from less-than-ideal donors are saving patients' lives
February 19, 2012
By Patricia Anstett
Detroit Free Press Medical Writer


After 2 1/2 years on Michigan's waiting list for a liver, Fredric Bennitt, who had gotten weaker and sicker, changed his mind about taking a less-than-perfect donor organ.

The liver he got last November at the University of Michigan came from someone who died of a heart attack, a donation considered somewhat riskier because organs of heart patients might go longer without a blood supply that affects the success of a transplant.

But with no increase in organ donations nationwide and not enough organs to go around, Americans must decide whether to take an organ from an older person or from someone with a chronic health issue. Bennitt, 63, was told another U-M patient declined the organ he got.

The issue is an eye-opener for some patients and their families "who assumed we only offered the best and were reluctant to consider anything but the best," said Dr. Michael Volk, a liver specialist at U-M.

In a survey Volk led, more than 42% of 95 U-M patients said they would rather wait than take a liver from a nontraditional source. Some patients don't understand that the risk of dying while waiting for an organ is often greater than risks they take with an organ from a less-than-perfect source, doctors say.

more, much more...
http://www.freep.com/article/20120219/FEATURES08/302190001/Organs-from-less-than-ideal-donors-are-saving-patients-lives?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Fascinating article!

I'm glad to see non-traditional donations happening more now.

[babylonsister]

2. The more they know...terrific! I'd take an organ from anyone if I was in dire straits.

Knowledge is power!

[iverglas]

3. I sure hope the option becomes more widely available

It should be an option - declining should not affect one's status on a list - but obviously many people would take that option rather than the alternative of never getting an organ.

If only we could make organ harvesting from bodies after death compulsory ...

If I die in a manner that makes my organs usable (and of course I'm registered with the organ donor registry here), I might be one of those "non-traditional" donors. I am not allowed to give blood in Ontario because I've had sex with someone who had lived in Africa since 1977. That was in about 1982. I'm alive and well (and tested negative a few years ago), and he's alive and teaching university in Cameroon, but I'm still barred. By the time I die, and if they're otherwise usable, hopefully my organs will look safe enough to gamble on!

Another thing I find unfortunate is the upper age limit on registering as a bone marrow donor: I believe it is 45 here. Given the terrible scarcity of donors, that's something I've never understood.

[BlueIris]

4. This is really, really interesting.

I kind of always assumed no one would want the organs of a donor who was 'less than perfect.' But I wondered what would happen if some were used for transplants.