Fall in organ donations and kidney transplants in 2005

January 20, 2006

The number of organs donated for transplantation in Ireland fell last year, while the number of kidney transplantations also fell, new figures show.

The drop comes amid a huge surge in demand for renal dialysis.

Cadaver organ donations fell to 74 last year, compared to 80 cadaver donations in 2004, while a total of 124 people received kidney transplants in Ireland last year, according to new statistics from the Irish Kidney Association.

The year before, there were 146 kidney transplants. However, over the last decade, the average number of kidney transplants has been around 133, it said.

Mr Mark Murphy, Chief Executive of the Association, told IMN that the drop in organ donations was a slight drop on the year before, which had been a very good year.

Five of these 124 kidney transplants in 2005 were joint kidney-pancreas transplants, and two were living donor transplants, it said.

It says Ireland always carried out one or two living donor transplants each year but has no living donor transplant programme.

Based on 2004 figures, Ireland was fifth in Europe for organ donation, but we are only 12th in Europe for kidney transplants because we do not have a living donor programme.

If we had such a programme, which is expensive, "we could be number one in Europe," he said.

Norway, which is not counted in EU figures, has such a living donor programme. In the year 2004, when Ireland had 80 cadaver donors, Norway had 87 and had 154 cadaver kidney transplantations, and an additional 87 living donor transplantations.

"For transplantation purposes, that puts Norway at the top of Europe. Forty per cent of all their transplantation is living donors. If we had 40 per cent, we'd be well up there too," Mr Murphy said.

Meanwhile, Mr Murphy also welcomed the record number of 56 liver transplants in 2005 carried out by the liver transplantation unit in St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin.

This was higher than the previous record of 45 transplants set in 2004. Last year's 56 liver transplants was "a phenomenal success" said Mr Murphy.

Ireland exported six livers and imported six livers during 2005, he said. Meanwhile, there were 11 heart transplants carried out in the Mater last year, he said, compared to six during 2004 and 15 in 2003.

There have been three lung transplants carried out in the Mater during 2005, the first year of Ireland's lung transplant programme. In addition, five patients had lung transplants in the UK in 2005.

Copyright © 2006 Irish Medical News.

This article posted February 16, 2006.