Half of organ donors over 60

(ANSA) - Rome, October 27 - 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.