Preservation drugs could produce more than 2,300 new organs

WASHINGTON -- More than 2,300 additional organs could be available for transplant each year without recruiting new donors, researchers said Tuesday. The key: a trio of drugs administered to brain-dead patients that help preserve the organs.

The drugs allow transplant programs to retrieve more usable organs from each existing donor, according to a review of 18 months of data comparing donors who were given the drugs and those who were not.

"There's a lot of effort being placed at getting more donors. Another way to get more organs is to see if you could get better utilization out of the existing donors," said Dr. Myron Kauffman, a medical consultant to the United Network for Organ Sharing.

Last year, 6,083 patients died waiting for transplants, network officials said Tuesday. Theoretically, one-third of them could have received transplants had the drugs been universally used, according to the research presented at the American Transplant Congress.

"That's a phenomenal number of organs nationally," said Ed Kraus, director of organ recovery for the Upstate New York Transplant Services in Buffalo. His organ bank uses the drugs, but typically only for trauma victims.

Far-reaching effects

"I suspect this paper will have very far-reaching effects," he said. "Will it change and become the national standard? I wouldn't be surprised if it did."

At issue is the use of hormonal resuscitation drugs, which were first recommended in the late 1990s by a British heart surgeon who found they helped preserve hearts.

The drugs are administered after patients have been declared brain dead and their families have agreed to donation. When someone is brain dead, there is no brain activity, no chance of recovery and the person is legally dead. But machines can keep the heart beating and blood circulating to preserve the organs until they can be removed.