National Day of Organ Donation and Transplantation: the true from the false

Each year in France, nearly 5,800 people donate an organ for a transplant, or just over 15 per day. In 2019, 7,901 people were transplanted. This Monday, June 22, is the National Day of Reflection on Organ Donation and Transplantation. On this occasion, the Biomedicine Agency launched a communication campaign entitled A bond that unites us all. Why doctor disentangles fact from fiction about organ donation and transplantation.

The kidney is the most donated organ in France: TRUE

In 2019, 3,643 kidneys were transplanted. Next comes liver (1,355), heart (425), lung (384), pancreas (107), heart-lung (9) and intestine (1) transplants.

Once dead, I am obliged to donate my organs: FALSE

“If you do not wish to donate your organs and tissues after your death, the main way to express your opposition is to register on the national register of refusals.You can also assert your refusal to withdraw in writing and entrust this dated and signed document to a relative. If it is impossible to write and sign this document yourself, two witnesses will be able to certify that the document drawn up by a third party corresponds to the expression of your wishes. Finally, you can communicate your opposition orally to your relatives who will have to certify it to the medical team. A written transcription of the circumstances of the expression of this refusal will be made”explains the Biomedicine Agency on the site dondorganes.fr.

If I am of legal age, voluntary and in good health, I can donate an organ during my lifetime: TRUE

Today, the circle of living organ donors extends to the following people: “The father or the mother and, by derogation, a son or a daughter, a brother or a sister of the recipienthis spouse, his grandparents, uncles or aunts, first cousins ​​and first cousins ​​as well as the spouse of the father and the mother”explains the Biomedicine Agency. Vou can also donate an organ if you can prove at least two years of common life with the recipient or a close and stable emotional bond with the latter for at least two years.

Dead, the donor cannot be a child: FALSE

If the deceased person is a minor, the donation of organs and tissues can only take place if at least one holder of parental authority, or the tutor, consent in writing.

There is an age limit for organ donation: FALSE

Today, organ removal is possible at all ages. “In 2019, 2.6% of donors in a state of dead encephalic were 17 years old or younger, 26.9% from 18 to 49 years old, 29.6% from 50 to 64 years old and 40.9% over 65 years old”notes the Biomedicine Agency.

If I donate an organ during my lifetime, it can be followed by complications: TRUE

Fortunately, the majority of complications recorded by the Biomedicine Agency are mild and transient cases. The most common are post-operative pain (24%). Post-operative complications requiring re-hospitalization and/or re-surgery are rare since they only concern between less than 1% and 3% of cases, approximately.

Patients can wait for a transplant for years: TRUE

Patients requiring an organ transplant are registered by their doctor on the national waiting list. Some are priority. Among them, children, people whose life is threatened in the very short term or those for whom the probability of obtaining a transplant is very low because of particular morphological or immunogenetic characteristics. For the others, more than two years on average elapse between registration on the list and the transplant. It should also be remembered that a patient may be temporarily removed from the list due to a health problem before being re-registered.

Every minute counts between the removal of the organ and its transplant: TRUE

Between the time the organ is removed and the time of the transplant, it should not exceed 3 to 4 hours for a heart, 6 hours on average for a liver, 6 to 8 hours for a lung and 24 to 36 hours for kidney.

A patient may reject the transplant: TRUE

Sometimes the immune system perceives the transplanted graft as an intruder and rejects it. This can happen within days or months after the operation. The patient then suffers from various symptoms, depending on the organ received. To limit the risk of transplant rejection, transplant patients must undergo lifelong treatment with immunosuppressive or anti-rejection drugs.

Immunosuppressive drugs are fraught with side effects: TRUE

Damping the immune system has consequences. The treatment therefore increases the risk of cancer, infection, heart disease and kidney disease. This is why researchers are currently working to develop new drugs that could make it possible to control the immune reaction more finely. In France, a treatment based on an antibody fragment is currently in a phase I trial. According to Insermits results are promising.

A graft is lifelong: FALSE

The average lifespan of a graft is ten years. However, some people manage to live with the same graft for 15, 20 or even 30 years.