title: Analysis of heart donation for cardiac transplantation at the National Taiwan University Hospital: fifteen-year cases review.
abstract: The demand for organ transplantation is disparate to the supply of organ donors. The organ shortage is a limitation for transplantation. This study analyzed the status of heart donors at the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) from July 1987 through November 2001 using registry records. One hundred ninety-four total heart donors yielded about 25 donors per year in the late era (years of 1995-2001). The majority of heart donors were men (78.4%) of O blood type (46.9%) with a mean age of 29.8 (SD = 11.9) years. Though head injury was the main source of heart donors (78.4%), cerebrovascular accident patients have increased (15%) since 1995. However, the number of donors from head injury decreased in the year of 1997, when Taiwan passed a law to force motorcycle drivers to wear safety helmets. The average interval from brain death to donation was 75.4 (SD = 71.2) hours. One hundred fifty-six (80.4%) of the 194 donor hearts came from outside hospitals. However, the majority of heart transplantations (166 cases, 85.6%) were done at the NTUH. Implementing a program for a smooth donation and organ procurement processes should provide better donor management in cardiac transplantation.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Chun Shan Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001926:Brain Death; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System