The UNOS OPTN waiting list: 1988 to 1994. United Network for Organ Sharing. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.

1. On November 30, 1994, the combined waiting list contained 37,138 registrations. This number represents an 11.4% annual increase in registrations from 33,352 registrations as of December 31, 1993. This percentage of annual increase in registrations is the lowest since 1988. Kidney registrations account for 73.2% of all registrations. It should be noted that the number of registrations increases every year, but the percentage of annual increase tended to decline. 2. In general, the median waiting times for kidney, kidney-pancreas, liver, heart, and lung registrants have increased since 1988. For pancreas registrants, the median waiting times tended to decrease. Overall, heart-lung registrants have the longest median waiting time, whereas liver registrants have the shortest median waiting time, among all registrants on the combined waiting list. Registrants waiting for a kidney-pancreas transplant have a shorter median waiting time than registrants waiting for a kidney or pancreas transplant alone. 3. Kidney, liver, heart, and lung registrants who were listed in 1992 with blood type O waited longer than those with other blood types. Of kidney-pancreas and pancreas registrants, those who had previous transplants waited longer than those who did not. Blacks on the kidney, kidney-pancreas, liver, and heart waiting lists waited longer than patients of other races. Median waiting times varied among different age groups, for different organs. 4. The reported deaths on the kidney waiting list increased each year since 1988, but the percentage of deaths among all kidney registrants in a selected year remained within a range of 3.3-3.8%. Similarly, the number of deaths on the liver, heart, and lung waiting lists increased yearly, whereas the percentage of deaths on these waiting lists remained static over the years. For liver, heart, and lung, the percentage rates of death were 8.5%, 13.7%, and 11.5%, respectively. 5. Among registrants removed from the waiting lists for transplantation, about 58% of the removals were for kidney transplants, 20% for liver transplants, and 16% for heart transplants. Kidney-pancreas and liver transplant rates were higher than those of other organs. Kidney-pancreas transplant rates were higher than those of kidney or pancreas alone. Heart transplant rates were lower than those of kidney-pancreas and liver, but higher than those of other organs. Note that the kidney-pancreas and liver transplant rates have declined over the years.