Pediatric Organ Donation: 16‐Year Experience of PICU / ICU of a Third Level Hospital in Portugal, 2006–2021
Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: ABSTRACT Background Pediatric organ donors represent a small but important portion of the deceased donor pool, helping both children and adults in the transplant waitlist. Despite this, pediatric donation remains an overlooked subject of research. Methods Retrospective, single‐center, descriptive study. All brain death patients under 18 years old who were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) between January 1st, 2006, and December 31st, 2021, and who were eligible for organ donation were included. Results Between January 2006 and December 2021, 200 children/adolescent died in the ICU. From those, 62 patients (31%) were considered eligible for organ donation. The mean age of the donors at the time of death was 8.8 years. Sixty‐three per cent were male. The most frequent cause of death was traumatic brain injury (n = 36). Two hundred and fifty organs were collected benefitting 202 persons with a recipient/donor ratio of 3.3. Kidneys were the most frequent organ donated (n = 116), followed by liver (n = 56) and heart (n = 34). The median number of organs donated per child was four, with a minimum of 1 organ and maximum of 8. Conclusions Pediatric organ donation represents a small proportion of overall organ donation, but children and adolescents have important impact on the lives they save. The field of pediatric organ donation needs more research to better understand the contribution of the pediatric population to both adults and children who wait for an organ.
Source: Pediatric Transplantation
DOI: 10.1111/petr.14850
Authors: Sara Sofia S. Rodrigues, André Costa e Silva, Margarida Rios, Marta Grilo, Augusto Ribeiro
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4402194253