The transplantation donation process in the Centro de Investigaciones Medico Quirurgicas of Cuba: 1999-2002.
OBJECTIVE
In 1998 in the Centro de Investigaciones Medico Quirurgicas the Transplant Coordination Office (TCO) was created, with the aim to organize a system to support a hepatic transplantation program. This organization, which changed the transplantation-donation process not only in our center but in the whole country, is described in this article.


METHODS
The files of donors generated in our hospital were studied together with the transplant coordination records, from 1999 till the first half of 2002.


RESULTS
In the period studied, 21 potential donors were diagnosed with brain death, yielding a donation rate of 71.4%. Brain death was most frequently caused by vascular brain disease; however, in the realized donor group, the cranioencephalic trauma predominated. The typical donor was a man of average age 39.2 years (range, 18-86 years). Among the potential donors, 24% were excluded based on medical criteria, and 5% due to family objections. Forty liver transplantation were performed in 36 patients including 1 liver-kidney simultaneous procedure. The principal etiologies for transplant included hepatitis C virus cirrhosis, 22%; alcoholic, 19%; and acute hepatic failure, 13%. Kidney transplantations were performed in 70 patients, including 41 from cadaveric donors (53.6%) and 29 from living related donors (41.4%). In 2001, a pancreas-kidney transplantation program was started.


CONCLUSIONS
The creation of the TCO has been of paramount importance to optimize transplantation program functions.
Abdo
A
A
Centro de Investigaciones Medico Quirurgicas, Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, Servicio de Trasplantes, Ciudad Habana, Cuba. aaabdo@cimeq.sld.cu
Ugarte
J C
JC
Castellanos
R
R
González
L
L
López
O
O
Hernández
J C
JC
Valdivia
J
J
Almora
E
E
Suárez
O
O
Diaz
J
J
Collera
S
S
Enamorado
A
A
Vázquez
A
A
Beníte
P
P
Dominguez
J
J
Wilford
M
M
Falcon
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001926:Brain Death; D002423:Cause of Death; D003462:Cuba; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000458:organization & administration*