Elisabeth Coll

Spanish experience as a leading country: what kind of measures were taken?

A recent call for self‐sufficiency in transplantation issued by the WHO faces variable worldwide activity, in which Spain occupies a privileged position, with deceased donation rates of 33–35 per million population (pmp) and 85 transplants pmp. An evaluation of current challenges, including a decrease in deaths because of traffic accidents and cerebrovascular diseases, and a diversity of cultures in Spain, has been followed by a comprehensive strategy to increase organ availability. Actions include an earlier referral of possible donors to the transplant coordination teams, a benchmarking project to identify critical success factors in donation after brain death, new family approach and care methods, and the development of additional training courses aimed at specific groups of professionals, supported by their corresponding societies. Consensus documents to improve knowledge about safety limits for organ donation have been developed to minimize inappropriate discarding of organs. Use of organs from expanded criteria donors under an ‘old for old’ allocation policy has resulted from adaptation to the progressive decline of optimal organs. National strategic plans to deal better with organ shortage, while respecting solid ethical standards, are essential, as reflected in the WHO Guiding Principles and the Istanbul Declaration on Organ Trafficking and Transplant tourism.

The 40 Donors Per Million Population Plan: An Action Plan for Improvement of Organ Donation and Transplantation in Spain

INTRODUCTION Spain has been showing the highest rate of deceased donor organ recovery in the world for a whole country, namely, 33-35 donors per million population (pmp) during the last years. This activity is attributed to the so-called Spanish Model of organ donation, an integrated approach to improve organ donation since the start of the Organización Nacional de Trasplantes (ONT) in 1989. However, in 2007 there were 7/17 regions with >40 donors pmp and a marked regional variability. Thus, ONT has set a large-scale, comprehensive strategy to achieve a substantial improvement in donation and transplantation in Spain in the coming years: The 40 Donors pmp Plan. PURPOSE AND SCOPE The overall objective is to increase the average rate of deceased donors to 40 pmp between 2008 and 2010. The areas of improvement, specific objectives, and actions have come from deep reflection on the data and the material generated from multidisciplinary discussions and open consultation with the donation and transplantation community. KEY AREAS SELECTED FOR ACTION Detection and management of brain-dead donors, with 4 specific subareas: access to intensive care units, new forms of hospital management, foreigners and ethnic minorities, and evaluation/maintenance of thoracic organ donors. Expanded criteria donors, with 3 subareas: aging, donors with positive tests to certain viral serologies, and donors with rare diseases. Special surgical techniques. Donation after cardiac death.

Effect of an intensive lung donor-management protocol on lung transplantation outcomes.

BACKGROUND An intensive lung donor-management protocol based on a strict protocol would increase the lung procurement rate. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of such a protocol on the rate of lung grafts available for transplant. METHODS A lung-management protocol for donors after brain death (DBD) was implemented in 2009. Lung donors from 2009 to 2011 were the prospective cohort, and those from 2003 to 2008 formed the historical control. We analyzed the synergic effect of several measures, such as protective ventilation, ventilator recruitment maneuvers, high positive end-expiratory pressure, fluid restriction with reduced extravascular lung water values, and hormonal resuscitation therapy in multiorgan DBD. The number of lungs available for transplantation was the main outcome measure. For recipients, early survival and the rate of primary graft dysfunction (PGD) grade 3 were the main outcome measures. RESULTS The DBD rate was more than 40 donors per 1 million population in both periods. The rate of lung donors increased from 20.1% to 50% (p < 0.001), quadrupling the number of lung donors (p < 0.001), grafts retrieved (p = 0.02), and patients who received a lung transplant (p < 0.01). No differences were observed in the survival of early recipients (p = 0.203) or in the rate of PGD grade 3 (p = 0.835). CONCLUSION The management of multiorgan DBDs should be approached as a global treatment requiring attentive bedside management. Implementing an intensive lung donor-management protocol based on synergic measures increases lung procurement rates, negative effect on early survival of lung recipients or PGD grade 3.

Registro Español de Trasplante Pulmonar: primer informe de resultados (2006-2010)

The Spanish Lung Transplant Registry (SLTR) began its activities in 2006 with the participation of all the lung transplantation (LT) groups with active programs in Spain. This report presents for the first time an overall description and results of the patients who received lung transplants in Spain from 2006 to 2010. LT activity has grown progressively, and in this time period 951 adults and 31 children underwent lung transplantation. The mean age of the recipients was 48.2, while the mean age among the lung donors was 41.7. In adult LT, the most frequent cause for lung transplantation was emphysema/COPD, followed by idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, both representing more than 60% the total number of indications. The probability for survival after adult LT to one and three years was 72% and 60%, respectively, although in patients who survived until the third month post-transplantation, these survival rates reached 89.7% and 75.2%. The factors that most clearly influenced patient survival were the age of the recipient and the diagnosis that indicated the transplantation. Among the pediatric transplantations, cystic fibrosis was the main cause for transplantation (68%), with a one-year survival of 80% and a three-year survival of 70%. In adult as well as pediatric transplantations, the most frequent cause of death was infection. These data confirm the consolidated situation of LT in Spain as a therapeutic option for advanced chronic respiratory disease, both in children as well as in adults.

Benchmarking in the Process of Donation After Brain Death: A Methodology to Identify Best Performer Hospitals

A benchmarking approach was developed in Spain to identify and spread critical success factors in the process of donation after brain death. This paper describes the methodology to identify the best performer hospitals in the period 2003–2007 with 106 hospitals throughout the country participating in the project. The process of donation after brain death was structured into three phases: referral of possible donors after brain death (DBD) to critical care units (CCUs) from outside units, management of possible DBDs within the CCUs and obtaining consent for organ donation. Indicators to assess performance in each phase were constructed and the factors influencing these indicators were studied to ensure that comparable groups of hospitals could be established. Availability of neurosurgery and CCU resources had a positive impact on the referral of possible DBDs to CCUs and those hospitals with fewer annual potential DBDs more frequently achieved 100% consent rates. Hospitals were grouped into each subprocess according to influencing factors. Hospitals with the best results were identified for each phase and hospital group. The subsequent study of their practices will lead to the identification of critical factors for success, which implemented in an adapted way should fortunately lead to increasing organ availability.

Analysis of the attitudes and motivations of the Spanish population towards organ donation after death

Starting with the relevance of the Spanish experience, this study analyses the population’s disposition towards organ donation after death by means of a representative survey of the adult Spanish population (N = 1206, estimated error ±2.87%, P < 0.05). Of the participants, 8.1% were declared donors, 59.3% were likely to donate, 14.5% were against donating and 18.1% did not know or did not respond; 87.3% would donate relative’s organs if the deceased favoured donation, 50.2% if the deceased’s wishes were unknown and 13.1% even if the deceased opposed donation. Among people who were favourable towards donation, the main motives expressed were the will to save other people’s lives, solidarity and knowing they might someday need a donation. The most important motives for not donating among participants who were against it were the fear of premature organ extraction, of premature pronouncement of death and of mutilation. Reticence to donate is associated with low socio‐economic and cultural level, advanced age and high religious commitment; it is also associated with a low perception of transplant efficacy, not directly knowing any transplanted people and the lack of qualified information. The results support diverse potentially effective strategies for promoting donation in the general population.

Donantes de órganos en España: evolución de las tasas de donación por comunidades autónomas y factores determinantes

Fundamento y objetivo El proposito del estudio ha sido analizar la evolucion de las tasas de donacion en las diferentes comunidades autonomas durante los ultimos anos y describir los factores con un mayor peso especifico en relacion con el numero de donantes. Material y metodo Se ha realizado un estudio descriptivo y retrospectivo, con datos de donacion y poblacion general, poblacion en individuos de 70 anos o mas, siniestralidad vial, numero de entrevistas para la donacion y porcentaje de respuestas negativas, en las diferentes comunidades autonomas entre 2001 y 2006. Tambien se analizo la correlacion entre los factores estudiados estratificando por ano. Para evaluar la evolucion temporal se realizo un analisis de regresion lineal para medidas repetidas. Resultados El numero de habitantes, la poblacion de 70 anos o mas y el numero de victimas mortales por accidente de trafico se correlacionaron con el numero de donantes general, de ese grupo de edad y fallecidos por esa causa, respectivamente. Estas relaciones no se cumplieron en todas las comunidades autonomas. El porcentaje de negativas no guardo relacion con el numero de entrevistas realizadas, si bien su disminucion se relaciono con un aumento de la tasa de donantes. Aunque de forma no tan constante, el aumento del porcentaje de donantes de 70 anos o mas y la disminucion del de fallecidos por accidentes de trafico se relacionaron con mayores tasas de donantes. Conclusiones La evolucion del numero de donantes sigue el crecimiento de la poblacion y el descenso del porcentaje de negativas, si bien se explica de forma diferente segun la comunidad autonoma.

Factors related to attitudes toward organ donation after death in the immigrant population in Spain.

López JS, Valentín MO, Scandroglio B, Coll E, Martín MJ, Sagredo E, Martínez JM, Serna E, Matesanz R. Factors related to attitudes toward organ donation after death in the immigrant population in Spain. 
Clin Transplant 2012 DOI: 10.1111/j.1399‐0012.2011.01586.x. 
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

How Spain Reached 40 Deceased Organ Donors per Million Population

With 40 donors and more than 100 transplant procedures per million population in 2015, Spain holds a privileged position worldwide in providing transplant services to its patient population. The Spanish success derives from a specific organizational approach to ensure the systematic identification of opportunities for organ donation and their transition to actual donation and to promote public support for the donation of organs after death. The Spanish results are to be highlighted in the context of the dramatic decline in the incidence of brain death and the changes in end‐of‐life care practices in the country since the beginning of the century. This prompted the system to conceive the 40 donors per million population plan, with three specific objectives: (i) promoting the identification and early referral of possible organ donors from outside of the intensive care unit to consider elective non‐therapeutic intensive care and incorporate the option of organ donation into end‐of‐life care; (ii) facilitating the use of organs from expanded criteria and non–standard risk donors; and (iii) developing the framework for the practice of donation after circulatory death. This article describes the actions undertaken and their impact on donation and transplantation activities.

Uncontrolled donation after circulatory death: European practices and recommendations for the development and optimization of an effective programme

The shortage of organs remains one of the biggest challenges in transplantation. To address this, we are increasingly turning to donation after circulatory death (DCD) donors and now in some countries to uncontrolled DCD donors. We consolidate the knowledge on uncontrolled DCD in Europe and provide recommendations and guidance for the development and optimization of effective uncontrolled DCD programmes.