“Take it or leave it”: Analysis of pediatric heart offers for transplantation in Switzerland

Background There is a shortage of donor hearts in Switzerland, especially for pediatric recipients. However, the rate and reason for refusals of pediatric donor hearts offered in Switzerland has not been systematically analyzed. Methods The national transplant database, Swiss Organ Allocation System...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pediatric transplantation 2024-06, Vol.28 (4), p.e14770-n/a
Main Authors: Maire, Stéphane, Schweiger, Martin, Immer, Franz, Prêtre, René, Di Bernardo, Stefano, Kadner, Alexander, Glöckler, Martin, Balmer, Christian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Allografts
Blood groups
Child
Child, Preschool
donor rejection
donor selection
Female
Heart Transplantation
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
pediatric heart transplantation
Pediatrics
Retrospective Studies
Switzerland
Tissue and Organ Procurement - statistics & numerical data
Tissue Donors - supply & distribution
Transplants & implants
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Summary:Background There is a shortage of donor hearts in Switzerland, especially for pediatric recipients. However, the rate and reason for refusals of pediatric donor hearts offered in Switzerland has not been systematically analyzed. Methods The national transplant database, Swiss Organ Allocation System, was searched for all hearts from Swiss and foreign donors younger than 16 years from 2015 to 2020. The numbers of accepted and refused hearts and early outcome were assessed, and the reasons for refusal were retrospectively analyzed. Results A total of 136 organs were offered to the three Swiss pediatric heart centers and foreign donor procurement organizations. Of these, 26/136 (19%) organs were accepted and transplanted: 18 hearts were transplanted in Switzerland, and 13 of these were foreign. Reasons for refusal were (1) no compatible recipient due to blood group or weight mismatch, 89.4%; (2) medical, meaning organ too marginal for transplantation, 7.4%; (3) logistic, 1.4%; and (4) other, 1.8%. Five organs were refused in Switzerland by one center but later accepted and successfully transplanted by another center. Hearts from outside Switzerland were transplanted significantly less than Swiss hearts (n = 16/120 vs. 10/16, p 
ISSN:1397-3142
1399-3046
DOI:10.1111/petr.14770