title: [Donors yesterday and today: have the characteristics of liver donors changed over the last 15 years?].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The social, medical and demographic changes of our population and the increase in the number of patients on waiting lists have led to some changes in the selection criteria of organ donors.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective, descriptive and comparative study of the liver cadaveric donors features accepted in the Liver Transplant Unit in La Fe University Hospital of Valencia (Spain) in 2 different periods. We distributed the cases into 2 groups, including in group A the first 200 first donors (from January 1991 to June 1995) and in group B the last 200 donors (from February 2004 to December 2005).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The number of donors increased from 18 during 1991 to 106 in 2006. In group A the mean age was 32.4 years, compared to 52.3 years in group B. In group A, the main cause of death was craneoencephalic traumatism and in group B cerebrovascular accidents. The mean time in the intensive care unit was longer in the second group with 67.2 hours. In group B, considerable atherosclerosis was reported in 17% of cadaveric donors and macroscopic liver steatosis in 29.5%, compared to 5 and 12%, respectively, in group A.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nowadays, cadaveric liver donors are older, suffer more chronic diseases, die due to cerbrovascular diseases, remain longer in intensive care units and the livers are macroscopically worse compared to donors accepted 15 years ago.
authors: Servicio de Cirugía General y Aparato Digestivo, Consorcio Hospital General Universitario, Valencia, España.
authors: Marcos
authors: M
authors: Bruna Esteban
authors: Rafael
authors: R
authors: López Andújar
authors: Eva
authors: E
authors: Montalvá Orón
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Redondo Cano
authors: Angel
authors: A
authors: Moya Herraiz
authors: Fernando
authors: F
authors: San Juan Rodríguez
authors: Eugenia
authors: E
authors: Pareja Ibars
authors: Juan José
authors: JJ
authors: Vila Carbó
authors: Manuel de Juan
authors: Mde J
authors: Burgueño
authors: José
authors: J
authors: Mir Pallardó
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013030:Spain; D013997:Time Factors; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*