While there were more transplants in 2019 in France than the previous year, the number of living donor kidney transplants has been declining for several years. A disturbing phenomenon for doctors.
The number of kidney transplants with living donors is declining. A worrying situation, according to doctors and associations, and while organ transplants in general, they started to rise again in 2019 in France. Indeed, after eight consecutive years of increase, organ transplants – all organs combined – had fallen in 2018. In question: kidney transplants, which are the most practiced, observed a drop of 6% (3,567 transplants in 2018, compared to 3,782 in 2017). “What worries me the most is the decline in living donors,” said Professor Olivier Bastien, director of sampling at the Biomedicine Agency, during a press conference.
Better results with living donors
However, “the results of transplants with kidneys from living donors are better”, specifies Olivier Bastien. On average, a kidney transplant lasts fifteen years. With a living donor, “it’s more than 10%”. The proportion of transplants performed using living donors fell for the second consecutive year. In 2017 it was 611, 541 in 2018 and 508 in 2019. This drop is also observable in other countries, particularly in Norway and the United States. This follows scientific publications, which identify an extremely low very long-term risk of kidney failure. A phenomenon that is not observed in France, where living donors are entitled to a free visit for life for medical follow-up and prevention, specifies Olivier Bastien.
Fewer donors with advances in medicine
In general, all-organ transplants rely on brain-dead donors. Except that their number is decreasing thanks to advances in medicine. Cerebral vascular accidents are particularly treated better. In 2019 in France, these donors were 1,729, compared to 1,743 in 2018. With the exception of the United States, where the opioid crisis is increasing the number of transplants. Heart transplants are increasing because the number of overdoses is increasing: 14% of samples taken from people in a state of brain death come from deaths by opioids, notes Professor Bastien.
7,000 transplants in 2021?
In France, the objective of transplant plan 3, which covers the years 2017 to 2021, is to exceed 7,000 transplants, all organs combined. Is it possible to get there? “It’s true that it will be difficult”, admits Olivier Bastien. For the association renalooo, “achieving the objectives now seems unlikely”, especially that of 1,000 kidney transplants with living donors. It should be noted that this decline in living donors is not linked to organ removal refusals. They have remained stable for several years (30 to 30.5%).
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