Cadaveric organ donation in Scandinavia, 1992.

In countries with active organ transplant programs and wide acceptance criteria for transplant recipients, such as the four Scandinavian countries, the need for organ grafts has outgrown the supply of cadaveric organs. We cannot expect to attain the maximum number of cadaveric donors every year and in every procurement area because the number of donors depends not only on the efficacy of the procurement program but also on the age of the population, incidence of road traffic accidents, treatment facilities, and other factors. The maximum numbers are set as a goal to strive for, however, Countries that participate in an exchange of cadaver organs to obtain well-matched kidneys for uremic patients and life-saving grafts at a suitable time for heart, lung, and liver recipients, must all have the same approximate number of cadaver donors. Major imbalances in the number of donors and also in the number of patients waiting for a transplantation may result in the supply of organ allografts for one country or region being met by the population of another region. With confidence we are looking forward to the impact of intensified public information and education of hospital personnel on the gap between demand and supply of organ allografts.