Transplant Summary1

447,524 Organ Transplants in the United States 1988-2008

There were 447,524 solid organ transplant surgeries in the United States from 1988 to 2008. Most operations were for kidney, liver and heart. Statistics about transplantation are described.

Organ transplantation in the United States is performed according to guidelines and procedures developed by the United Network for Organ sharing (UNOS) and Organ Transplantation and Procurement Network (OPTN). UNOS and OPTN are agencies fully funded by the United States government. These were founded in 1984 and started work in 1988. Data from the UNOS / OPTN experience are presented here.

Methods

Data from OPTN database accessible to public were analyzed. Pre-1988 data was not included in the analysis. In situations where data from one site was part of more than one region or state, OPTN guidelines were used to assign data to a particular geographic region.

Organs Transplanted

There were 447,524 solid organ transplant surgeries in the United States from 1988 to 2008. Of these, there were 265,878 kidneys (59%), 93,937 livers (21%), 45,117 Hearts (10.1%) and the remainder were lungs (4%), pancreas (1.3%), pancreas and kidney (3.5%), heart and lung (0.22%) and intestines (0.4%).

Gender of Recipients

There were 275,926 males and 173,926 females. Among kidney transplant patients, the female proportion was 40%. The female proportion of recipients of each organ was as follows: liver - 39%, heart- 25% pancreas - 48%, kidney and pancreas - 40%, lung - 48%, heart and lung - 58% and intestine 49%. The trend toward equal proportiond of male and female recipients among all recipients except the heart is best explained by the fact that women have heart attacks at a later stage in life and therefore present themselves for transplant evaluation at an older age. there is roughly a ten percent difference in the pecentage of each gender in most organ recipient lists with male preponderence in all organ categories except heart and lung.

Age of Recepients

Most recipients - 84.6%, were adults (18 to 64 years age). Children (less than 18 years age) comprised 7,7% and elders ( age more and 65 years were 7.8% of the total. Female percentage was highest for the pediatric (45.67%)group, followed by adults(38.4%) and least in elder group(34.66%).
Ethnicity of Recipients

Most recipients were white (67%). Blacks were 17.5% and Hispanics were 10.6%. Asians, American Indian/Alaska natives and Pacific Islander comprised the rest. Females were 11.2% of whites, 10.1% of blacks and 9.2% of Hispanic recipients. Asian females were 7.7% of all asians. American Indian / Alaska natives were 8.7% female. Pacific Islanders were 6.7% female.

Increase in Organ Transplant Rates

In 1988 there were 12,623 transplants. This increased to 25,630 organs in 1988 (49.25% increase). Kidney transplants increased from 8,878 in 1988 to 15,092 in 2008 (increase of 170%) liver transplants from 1,713 to 5,793 (338% increase), Pancreas from 78 to 405 (519% increase), Kidney and pancreas from 171 to 779 (456% increase), Heart from 1,676 to 2,002 (19.5% increase) and lungs from 33 to 1,362 (4100% increase).
About 450,000 solid organs have been transplanted in the United States in the last twenty years. Most of these were kidneys, livers and hearts. Most recipients were men and white, but blacks (17.5%) comprised greater proportion of recipients than their numbers in the general population. Percentage of females was highest for pancreas, heart and lung and intestine.Most recipients were adults, although females comprised a greater proportion of pediatric recipients than in other age groups. The greatest percentage increase in transplant rates was for lung transplantation. Copyright (c) 2009 A. N. Munsif

REFERENCES:

1. Dr. Munsif's Handbook of Diabetes, 2009. Morristown Publishing Company, P.O. Box 672, Livingston, New Jersey 07039, U.S.A.

2. Dr. Munsif's Handbook of Transplant Statistics, 2009, Morristown Publishing Company, P.O. Box 672, Livingston, New Jersey 07039, U.S.A.

3. OPTN data as of February 27, 2009, OPTN, 700 North 4th Street, Richmond, VA 23219.

1. Dr. Munsif's Handbook of Diabetes, 2009, Morristown Publishing Company, P.O. Box 672, Livingston, New Jersey 07039, U.S.A.

2. Dr. Munsif's Handbook of Transplant Statistics, 2009, Morristown Publishing Company, P.O. Box 672, Livingston, New Jersey 07039.

3. OPTN data as of February 27, 2009, OPTN, 700 North 4th Street, Richmond, VA 23219.

*Presented in part at the 49th Annual Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention Annual Conference, and Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism Conference of the American Heart Association at Tampa, Florida from March 10 to 14, 2009.

Description

There were 447,524 solid organ transplant operations in the United States between 1988 and 2008. Most operations were for kidney, liver and heart. Basic statistics about transplantation are described.

About the Author (text)

Dr. A. N. Munsif is a physician with interest in diabetes, heart disease and heart transplantation and he is also the author of publications on these topics. He presents his research findings often before professional groups. http://www.spartabook.com. Other sites which carry these titles are spartabook.com, morristownpublishing.com and diseaseaid.com. 

Copyright (c) 2009

About the Author (HTML)

<a href="http://www.spartabook.com">Dr. A. N. Munsif</a> is a physician with interest in <a href="http://www.spartabook.com"> diabetes</a>, <a href="http://www.spartabook.com">heart disease</a><a href="http://www.spartabook.com"> and heart transplantation </a> and he is the author of publications on these topics. He presents his research findings often before professional groups.<a href="http://www.spartabook.com">http://www.spartabook.com</a>. Copyright (c) 2009

About the Article

Category 1: Health/Diseases and Conditions
Category 2: Health

Keywords: Organ transplantation, Intestine transplant, Heart transplant, Pancreas transplant, Liver transplant