The UNOS OPTN Waiting List and Donor Registry: 1988-1996.

1. There were 49,233 registrations on the combined UNOS waiting list as of October 31, 1996, an increase of 207% over December 31, 1988. Of these, 69% were awaiting kidney transplantation, and 14.6% were awaiting liver transplantation. 2. More than one-half of all patients on the UNOS waiting list on October 31, 1996 were blood type O, 60% were White, 58% were male, and 56% were aged 18-49. 3. Annual additions to the UNOS kidney waiting list grew from 11,909 in 1988 to 17,635 in 1995. The largest increase in waiting list size was in the lung waiting list, which grew from 126 additions in 1988 to 1,706 additions in 1995. 4. For patients registering in 1994, median waiting times to transplant were longest for kidney registrants (842 days), followed by heart-lung registrants (612 days). The shortest waiting times for this cohort were experienced by liver registrants (173 days). 5. In general, death rates per 1,000 patient years at risk have declined during 1988-1995. Death rates were higher for patients awaiting life-saving organs (liver, heart, lung, heart-lung) than for non-lifesaving organs (kidney, pancreas, kidney-pancreas). 6. There were 5,359 cadaveric and 3,215 living donors recovered in 1995, a 31% and 76% increase, respectively, over the numbers recovered in 1988. 7. The number of organs recovered per cadaveric donor increased from 2.98 in 1988 to 3.68 in 1995. At the same time, the number of organs transplanted per cadaveric donor recovered increased from 2.73 to 3.24. 8. Large increases were seen in the number of recovered donors who were liver (45-81%), pancreas (14-24%), and lung (3-17%) donors between 1988-1995. 9. The number of cadaveric donors aged 50 or older has increased 172% from 1988 (475 donors) to 1995 (1,292 donors). 10. The typical cadaveric donor in 1995 was a White male with blood type O, between the ages 18-34. In 1995, a typical living donor was a White female with blood type O, aged 35-49. 11. Between 1988-1995, the percentage of minority donation has increased for cadaveric donors (16.4-22.8%), and for living donors (24.0-27.5%). 12. The number of spouses or other unrelated living donors has increased from 4% in 1988 to 11% in 1995.