J Korean Med Sci.  2010 Aug;25(8):1122-1127. 10.3346/jkms.2010.25.8.1122.

Trends in Deceased Organ Donation and Utilization in Korea: 2000-2009

• Min SI
• Kim SY
• Park YJ
• Min SK
• Kim YS
• Ahn C
• Kim SJ
• Ha J

• KMID: 1714030
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2010.25.8.1122

Abstract

Continuous efforts have been made by the organ donation and transplantation community in Korea to increase organ donation by the deceased. The authors detailed trends of organ donation and utilization over the past 10 yr using data provided by the KONOS. The yearly number of deceased donors has grown gradually since 2003. The number and percentage of old donors (> or =50 yr) and donors dying from intracranial hemorrhage has increased continuously. Therefore, the percentage of standard criteria donors (SCD) has been declining significantly, from 94% in 2000 to 79.2% in 2009. The number of organs transplanted per donor (OTPD) has also declined slightly since 2007, from 3.28 in 2007 to 2.95 in 2009. This decline may be attributable to increases in the number and percentage of extended criteria donors (ECD) and donors after cardiac death (DCD), since the OTPD was 2.25 for DCD, 2.5 for ECD, and 3.09 for SCD in 2009. In summary, the makeup of donors has changed significantly. There is an urgent need for establishment of an institutional framework including an independent organ procurement organization and for improvement for the National Transplant Act to increase deceased donor pool and to optimize management of ECD and DCD.

Keyword

Deceased Organ Donors; Expanded Criteria Donors; Donors after cardiac death; Tissue and Organ Procurement; Organ Utilization

MeSH Terms

Adult
Death
Demography
Female
Humans
Male
Republic of Korea
Tissue Donors
Tissue and Organ Procurement/*trends

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Total number of deceased donors of organs recovered for transplantation, 1999-2008. Pmp, donors per million people.

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  Fig. 2 Changes in demographic data. (A) Ages of deceased donors, and (B) causes of death of deceased donors.

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  Fig. 3 Changes in deceased donor population, by donor type. SCD, standard criteria donor; ECD, expanded criteria donor; DCD, donation after cardiac death.

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  Fig. 4 Changes in organs transplanted per donor (OTPD). (A) all deceased donors and (B) OTPD changes by donor type.

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  Fig. 5 Organs transplanted per donor (OTPD) by donor type and organs transplanted. (A) Kidney, (B) Liver, (C) Pancreas and (D) Heart.

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