ABSTRACT
Increasing donor availability for organ transplantation requires attention to factors
that are potentially modifiable. The potential pool of available organs can theoretically
be enlarged by considering new sources of organs, including non-beating heart donors,
live donor lobar transplants, xenotransplants, and in vitro organ culture. Increased
utilization of the current pool of organs can be achieved by creating a system that
identifies, considers, and optimizes all possible donors. Although protocols have
been drawn up regarding general and specifically lung donor acceptance criteria, many
of these can be now recognized as unduly conservative and without a proven clinical
basis. Careful reanalysis of these acceptance criteria and active donor management
can be balanced against the particular circumstance of an individual potential recipient
to increase lung transplantation rates.
KEYWORD
Lung transplantation - donor assessment - donor management
