Estimated that the number of brain-dead potential organ donors in the U.S. ranges from 17,000 to 26,000 per year.
Organ donors may be living or may have died of brain death or circulatory death.
Most deceased donors are those who have been pronounced brain dead.
Brain dead is the cessation of brain function, typically after receiving an injury to the brain, or otherwise cutting off blood circulation to the brain.
Breathing is maintained via artificial sources, which, in turn, maintains heartbeat.
Once brain death has been declared, the person can be considered for organ donation.
Fewer than 3% of all deaths in the US are the result of brain death, meaning the overwhelming majority of deaths are ineligible for organ donation, resulting in severe shortages.
Patients that have been pronounced brain dead are one of the most common and ideal donors, since often these donors are often young and healthy, thus leading to high quality
Organ donation is possible after cardiac death in some situations, primarily when the person is severely brain-injured and not expected to survive without artificial breathing and mechanical support.
Independent of any decision to donate, a person’s next-of-kin may decide to end artificial support.
If the person is expected to expire within a short period of time after support is withdrawn, arrangements can be made to withdraw that support in an operating room to allow quick recovery of the organs after circulatory death has occurred.
Tissues may be recovered from donors who die of either brain or circulatory death.
In general, tissues may be recovered from donors up to 24 hours past the cessation of heartbeat.
In contrast to organs, most tissues, except corneas, can be preserved and stored for up to five years.
More than 60 grafts may be obtained from a single tissue donor.
Due to the ability to recover from a non-heart-beating donor, the ability to bank tissue, and the number of grafts available from each donor – tissue transplants are much more common than organ transplants.
Tissues may be recovered from donors who die of either brain or circulatory death.
In general, tissues may be recovered from donors up to 24 hours past the cessation of heartbeat.
In contrast to organs, most tissues, except corneas, can be preserved and stored for up to five years.
More than 60 grafts may be obtained from a single tissue donor.
Due to the ability to recover from a non-heart-beating donor, the ability to bank tissue, and the number of grafts available from each donor – tissue transplants are much more common than organ transplants.
More than one million tissue transplants take place in the United States each year.
In living donors, the donor remains alive and donates a renewable tissue, cell, or fluid-blood, skin), or donates an organ or part of an organ in which the remaining organ can regenerate or take on the workload of the rest of the organ- single kidney donation, partial donation of liver, lung lobe, small bowel.
Bacteremia or fungemia in organ donors are not absolute contraindications to donation since outcomes of recipients are not significantly worse than when donors do not have infection.
Individuals who are infected with hepatitis B or C can donate organs into recipients infected with the same virus and can be considered in patients who are not so infected but need a life-saving organ transplantation.
Absolute contraindications to organ donation include HIV infection, systemic viral infections, prion related disease and herpes meningoencephalitis.
Can transmit cytomegalovirus and induce cytomegaloviral disease.