Catalonia, leader in organ transplants despite donor reduction

Barcelona (ACN) - Last year, 872 organ transplants were made in Catalonia, 31 of them pediatric. Catalonia continues to lead the number of transplants made in Spain, consolidating the historical record reached in 2011. The number of body donors in Catalonia has decreased by 4.2% in 2012 but the number of transplants has only been affected by 2.2% thanks to a better use of the organs coming from bodies and an increase of living donor transplants. Lung transplants have increased by 35% and the number of heart donors has improved by 18.7%. Waiting lists were reduced by 4.6% compared to the previous year.

Catalonia registered 228 donors, 209 of which had died an encephalic-related death and the 19 remaining due to a heart attack, a type of donation that has increased by 18.7% in relation to 2011. The main cause of the donor’s death is still a vascular cerebral accident in 61% of cases. The average age of the body donor is 57.5 years old, a figure which confirms the tendency that the age of the donor is rising.

Waiting lists for organ transplants were generally reduced by 4.6% in comparison to 2011. The waiting time for lung or pancreas surgery has been the most reduced, followed by liver and kidney operations. However, the waiting lists for a heart or gut transplant have not suffered any variation.

Catalonia leads the number of living donors for kidney transplants, with 147 cases in 2012, 4.3% higher than 2011 and is responsible for at least half of this kind of transplants in Spain. In total, 559 kidney transplants -17 of them pediatric- have been carried out in the same period of time.

Lung transplants have increased by 35% with 64 operations on adults and 2 on children. With respect to liver transplants, 171 operations were on adults and 9 on children while 52 were the total number of heart transplants and 15 surgeries of pancreas transplant. On the other hand, 484 bore narrow transplants were carried out and 68 of them pediatric.