title: The OPTN waiting list, 1988-2000.
abstract: More patients in the United states are waiting for organ transplants that at any time in the past and the remarkable growth of the UNOS waiting list has become a key issue for the transplant community. 1. On October 31, 2001, there were 84,277, registrations on the combined UNOS waiting list. Among these, 63% were awaiting kidney transplantation, and 22% were awaiting liver transplantation. 2. The majority of patients on the UNOS waiting list on October 31, 2000, were of blood type O (52%), white (55%) and male (58%), and awaiting their first transplant (87%). 3. The percentage transplanted within one year of listing has been declining for most organs, although that percentage has been somewhat stable for heart and lung between 1998-2000. 4. Blood type and medical urgency have a significant impact upon the percent transplanted within one year of listing for most organ types. Patients awaiting heart, pancreas, and intestinal transplants experience the highest probability of receiving a transplant within one year. 5. Deaths per patients waiting have declined since 1988 for most patients awaiting life-saving organs and have remained relatively low for those awaiting a kidney, pancreas, or kidney-pancreas transplant. Deaths were highest for lung and heart-lung patients, but appear to be declining.
authors.affiliation: United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), Richmond, Virginia, USA.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Harper
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Ellison
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D016377:Organ Transplantation; D012042:Registries; D013997:Time Factors; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement; D014850:Waiting Lists