100% of dialysis facilities should designate
one staff member to serve as the transplant liaison to oversee
transplant education, track evaluation referrals, submission
of laboratory samples, and patient status changes.
The
number of transplants performed by Network 5 Transplant
Centers increased 127% 1990 to 2000. Of note is the increase
in the number of living related donor (LRD) and living
unrelated donor (LURD) kidney transplants that occurred
in Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Patients and physicians continue to voice concern about
the number of kidneys available for transplantation. Many
organ procurement agencies are developing programs to
expand the number of organs available for transplantation.
More Kidneys become
Available for Transplantation:
More
kidneys have become available to local patients needing
transplants, due to a new initiative. The Washington
Regional Voluntary Living Donor Registry (WRVLDR), a partnership
launched between the Washington Regional Transplant Consortium
(WRTC) and seven Washington-area kidney transplant programs,
offers unique ways for a person to donate a kidney to
another.
These
options are:
Paired
exchange
Living donor/cadaver exchange
Non-designated donation.
For
more information on the Washington Regional Voluntary
Living Donor Registry, call the Washington Regional Transplant
Consortium at
(202)
223-8229 or (703) 641-0100, or visit the website
www.wrtc.org to order a brochure about the program.
Also please check with your local transplant center to
see if they have paired/shared exchange programs.
"Access to Kidney Transplant, 1990-2002"
(click to view graph) Review of MARC transplant data indicates
that it mirrors United States patterns of access to transplant.
"Comparison of Dialysis, Transplant and Waiting List
Patients" (click to view graph) It is recognized
that transplant provides better patient quality of life
and survival rates than other forms of ESRD treatment.
In 2000, living-donor kidney transplant provides a one-year
patient survival rate of 97.6% and a one-year graft survival
rate of 94.1%. Cadaveric transplant provides a one- year
patient survival rate of 93.7% and a one-year graft survival
rate of 87.7%. In 2000, dialysis provided a one-year survival
rate of 78.7%. (The 2003 USRDS Annual Report published
estimated survival curves for a 1996 incident patient
cohort which projected a 5 year survival rate of 46.0%
for dialysis patients age 50-59.)
|
All
Patients/Unadjusted |
1-Year
Patient Survival Rate |
1-Year
Graft Survival Rate |
5-Year
Patient Survival Rate |
10-Year
Patient Survival Rate (1991) |
|
Living
Donor Kidney Transplant |
97.6% |
94.1% |
90.4% |
77.8% |
|
Cadaveric
Kidney Transplant |
93.7% |
87.7% |
80.6% |
58.9% |
|
Dialysis |
78.7% |
N/A |
38.2% |
19.9%
|
Source:
USRDS 2003 Annual Report
The
United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) states, "The
single greatest obstacle to increasing the number of patients
who receive life-saving transplants is the scarcity of
available organ donations. The only way to increase organ
donations is to educate the public and medical professionals
about the importance of becoming an organ donor."
On April 2, 2004, 60,434 patient
were waiting for a cadaveric kidney transplant
1n 2003, 15,122 kidney transplants were performed in the
U.S., 6,460 were living donor transplants; during 2003
organs were recovered from 6,455 cadaveric organ donors
and 6,811 Living organ donors
Did you know that by becoming an organ donor, you can
help save or improve the lives of more than 50 people?
Every 13 minutes another name is added to the national
transplant waiting list
Today, and every day, an average of 56 people in the United
States will get a second chance at life by receiving a
transplantable organ.
Please
continue to discuss all transplant options with each medically
eligible patient in your dialysis facility.
The
Network 5 Transplant Subcommittee remains committed to
increasing patient access to transplant through educational
activities such as
Referral For Living Donor Kidney Transplant.
