Euthanasia was legalized in Belgium in 2002 for adults under strict conditions. The patient must be in a medically futile condition and of constant and unbearable physical or mental suffering that cannot be alleviated, resulting from a serious and incurable disorder caused by illness or accident. Between 2005 and 2007, 4 patients (3 in Antwerp and 1 in Liège) expressed their will for organ dona...

Establishing an organization to promote organ donation and a good organ procurement team assure quality and improve performance on organ donation rates. Brazil's organ procurement structure is based on 2 models disseminated worldwide: the "Spanish model," based on in-house coordinators, and the "American organ procurement organization (OPO) model," with extra-hospital coordinators. In 2006, Bra...

BACKGROUND Organ donation rates nationally have changed little in the last 15 years, despite a growing waiting list. About 6000 patients die each year for lack of a donated organ. South Carolina's organ procurement organization, LifePoint, recently restructured itself in an effort to increase donation and transplantation rates. The main change was division of the procurement coordinator positio...

BACKGROUND Ischemia-reperfusion injury has been shown to deteriorate microcirculation in experimental pancreas transplantation. However, minor concern was taken on the impact of organ procurement in this condition. We examined the impact of a standardized technique of organ procurement on microcirculation and apoptosis in experimental pancreas transplantation. METHODS Male Lewis rats were div...

Pediatric organ donation and organ transplantation can have a significant life-extending benefit to the young recipients of these organs and a high emotional impact on donor and recipient families. Pediatricians, pediatric medical specialists, and pediatric transplant surgeons need to be better acquainted with evolving national strategies that involve organ procurement and organ transplantation...

Successful organ transplantation depends, first of all, an a well-planned recovery of the organs, and appropriate management af the donor. These aSRects are increasingly' critical, considering the dramatic organ shortage, which allows for no waste of the few available organs. In fact, in spJte of several attempts to find alternative solutions to the brain-dead human donor, an immediate impact o...

Over the past 15 years, the shortage of organs for transplantation has worsened. This has forced clinicians to review alternative approaches to organ procurement. These new approaches, however, may have serious implications both for patients and for society as a whole. Ever since the first cadaver organs were used for transplantation, organ procurement has relied on the altruism and goodwill of...

BACKGROUND In the organ transplant process, the perioperative nurse plays an important role in assisting with organ procurement, during which they are frequently required to witness the death of donors. Their experiences and feelings regarding such are largely hidden and little discussed. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to understand the experience, feelings, and self-care strategies of...

Organ procurement from executed prisoners in China is internationally condemned, yet this practice continues unabated in 2014. This is despite repeated announcements from Chinese authorities that constructive measures have been undertaken to conform to accepted ethical standards. While there is unanimous agreement on the unethical nature of using organs from executed prisoners, due to its limit...