Italy and Spain are the two
European countries making the most use of elderly organ donors,
ANSA learned Thursday.
"Half of organ donors are over age 60 and they are often
people who have suffered a stroke. In at least a quarter of the
case," ANSA was told by the director of an organ transplant
center, Nanni Costa, on the sidelines of the 40th congress of
the Italian Organ Transplant Society (SITO), "they are over age
70."
Italy is also at the cutting edge of the use of machines
that make it possible to "treat" damaged organs, he said, adding
that in the case of elderly donors, "hearts and lungs are
obviously excluded but livers can be donated".
A 92-year-old set the record in 2016 for being the oldest
organ donor.
SITO chief Umberto Cillo added that Italy had begun study
on a technique to oxygenize organs in 2004 and that this
technique was currently in use primarily for the liver and lungs
to repair damages.
Transplanting parts of a single liver into two people is a
technique that is used ever more frequently in Italy, with a
rise in use of 80% over the past year alone.
The congress announced that a foundation would be
established to raise awareness on organ donation.
Unlike hearts and lungs, the liver regenerates and makes it
possible to take a part to transplant into another adult and a
part to use for pediatric patients.
Cillo added that this technique had been used a great deal
since August 2015, when a new protocol on it came into force,
"making it possible to drastically reduce waiting times for
children and almost eliminate mortality rates" resulting from a
lack of liver transplants, he said.
The SITO chief said that there is a high level of
professionalism in Italy but not enough donors.
"The only sharp rise in the history of organ transplants
was in 2004," Cillo said, "when the child Nicholas Green died
and marked a milestone in the history of organ transplants,
since the example of his family led to enormous and immediate
awareness-raising among the population."
The creation of the Fondazione Italiana per la Promozione
dei Trapianti d'Organo (FIPTO) will focus on informing the
public about issues related to organ donation, starting with
focusing on the young through schools and social media networks.
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