Organ donation in an aging population: the experience of the last 8 years in Galicia.
BACKGROUND
Mean organ donor age has increased in recent years, conditioned by causes of death and population profile. We analyzed organ donation in Galicia during the last 8 years.


METHODS
We analyzed donors in Galicia between 2000 and 2007, studying age, cause of death, donation effectiveness, and organs transplanted per donor.


RESULTS
Donation rates fluctuated between 29 and 35 donors per million population (pmp) during the study period. Mean donor age increased from 51.6 years (Spain, 47.1 years) in 2000 to 63.3 years (Spain, 53.4 years) in 2007. Donors of 75 years or older increased from 7.5% to 27.2%. Cerebrovascular accident (CVA) as cause of death rose from 57% in 2000 to 75.3% in 2007. The variations in the proportions of organs transplanted between 2000 and 2007 were: kidney, 68.8% to 53.7%; liver, 86% to 88.9%; heart, 33.5% to 9.9%; and lung, 10.8% to 9.9%. Valid transplanted organs per donor decreased from 2.8 to 2.2, and effective donors from 93.5% (Spain, 90.3%) to 92.6% (Spain, 87.8%) with a mean of 94%.


CONCLUSIONS
The population in Galicia has aged considerably and is widely dispersed. Despite the increased mean donor age, the percentage of effective donors has not diminished and donor rates have remained stable. This reflects the extremely conscientious attitude of transplant coordinators and the high degree of activity of transplant teams in Galicia.
Bouzas Caamaño
E
E
Transplant Coordination Office, Galician Health Service, Galician Department of Health, A Coruña, Spain. encarnacion.bouzas.caamano@sergas.es
Sánchez Ibáñez
J
J
Alvarez Vázquez
M
M
Fernández García
A
A
Mariño Rozados
A
A
Ojea Cendón
M
M
Leal Ruiloba
S
S
Varela Franco
A
A
Alvarez Diéguez
I
I
D000368:Aged / Q000502:physiology*; D002423:Cause of Death; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000401:mortality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000401:mortality / Q000502:physiology*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000401:mortality / Q000502:physiology*; D016040:Lung Transplantation / Q000401:mortality / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013030:Spain; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*