Non-heart-beating lung donation: how big is the pool?
Lungs from non-heart-beating (NHB) donors are seldom used in The Netherlands despite the good quality of these organs. Based on a retrospective analysis of 162 NHB donor procedures we found that only 5% of the lungs were actually utilized, but that 30% of the lungs were suitable for transplantation. Not recognizing the suitability of NHB lungs is likely the main reason for their non-availability.
Nijkamp
Danielle M
DM
Department of Surgery, Division of Organ Donation, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. d.m.nijkamp@chir.umcg.nl
van der Bij
Wim
W
Verschuuren
Erik A M
EA
Heemskerk
Martin B A
MB
de Buijzer
Erwin
E
Erasmus
Michiel E
ME