Organ donation after death in Ontario: a population-based cohort study

Maternal organ donation and acute injuries in surviving children

“…The children showed a diversity of age, sex, and socioeconomic status; however, all were below aged 25 years, and most were living in urban locations. The consent rates of deceased organ donation in this study were similar to results from past studies in Canada, although below the rates in some other high-income countries such as Spain and the United States [136,64,[137][138][139]63].…”

“…We focused on the 3 diagnoses most commonly causing brain death, namely, traumatic brain injury, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and intracerebral bleeding [60][61][62]. We then restricted the sample based on 4 further criteria validated in prior research to define those cases most eligible for deceased organ donation, namely, age 59 years or younger, no disqualifying medical conditions (cancer, tuberculosis, and human immunodeficiency virus), mechanical ventilation starting at admission, and death within 1 week of admission [63]. Throughout, we identified exact individual mothers who had previously given birth and who died years afterward from a catastrophic brain event (hereafter denoted as maternal deaths).…”

Estimation of Potential Deceased Organ Donors in Canada

“…A recent Canadian study reported significant differences between hospitals with and without transplant programs, suggesting the importance of hospital factors that may be modifiable. 18 Understanding these factors and implementing strategies to minimize variation in clinical practice that limit organ donation should be prioritized in Canada as has been done in the United States. 19 Importantly, continued efforts to improve the study method are needed, including ongoing comparison with information from hospital chart audits and efforts to improve the assignment of diagnostic codes to hospitalized deaths in critical care areas.…”

Increasing Rates of Kidney Failure Care in Canada Strains Demand for Kidney Donors

“…For this reason, an age cut-off is often used in calculations of donor potential. 6,23 However, since older people represent an important potential source of donation, conversion rates were also calculated using 80 as the maximum age. Using strict criteria, an estimated 12% v of potential donors younger than 80 became actual donors in 2012; the conversion rate fell to 10% using updated criteria.…”