The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) has approved a policy for the allocation of split livers and has approved an initiative to release more up-to-date and institution-specific information on organ donation and transplantation.
The United States has never had a formal sharing arrangement for split livers. The new policy "could increase the number of livers available and decrease the number of deaths on the waiting list, especially for pediatric patients," UNOS said.
Under the plan, once a transplant program voluntarily joins the sharing arrangement, it will be required to split all eligible livers for at least a year. Split livers will first be offered to patients at the transplant program where the whole liver was allocated. If a liver segment is not needed there, it will be offered to the highest ranking patient willing to accept a split liver locally, regionally, and then nationally.
Through the initiative to release more information specific to individual institutions, UNOS plans to publish a report in the fall that will address demand for transplantation, organ supply, and the performance of transplant centers. The data will be reported by demographics, including age range, gender, and race, and by factors relevant to specific organs, such as the medical urgency status for heart and liver transplants and immune sensitivity levels for kidney transplants.
UNOS said it plans to update the data annually.
The split liver policy and information initiative were approved at a June 25 meeting of the UNOS board of directors in Atlanta.
For Your Information:
UNOS press release:
http://www.unos.org/Newsroom/archive_newsrelease_19990625_liver_split.htmUNOS press release:
http://www.unos.org/Newsroom/archive_newsrelease_19990625_pii.htm
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