Numbers of Brain Deaths and Deceased Donors in Hospitals in Istanbul Region That Have Transplantation Units: A Retrospective Analysis Between the Years 2005 and 2015

Background

Turkey is one of the countries facing a serious organ shortage problem, with thousands of patients with end-stage organ failure. The Social Security Institution started to increase the reimbursement for transplantation operations in 2007 to solve this problem, and this policy has continued since then. Although the number of transplantation centers and operations in Turkey increased in this term, according to organ donation and transplantation statistics from the Ministry of Health, the rate of organ retrieval from deceased organ donors has decreased.

Methods

This study was performed with the purpose of retrospectively analyzing (between the years 2005 and 2015) the number of brain deaths and donors after brain death in hospitals that are affiliated with the Istanbul Regional Coordination Office and have transplantation units. Data were collected via the website of the Ministry of Health. Hospitals were categorized as those directly affiliated with the Ministry of Health, university hospitals, and private hospitals.

Results

This study found that the number of transplantation centers has increased >3 times since 2005, and the number of private transplantation centers has increased 9 times for the same period. We also found that the number of brain deaths, donors after brain death in hospitals, and number of brain deaths and donors after brain death per hospital had varied throughout the study years.

Conclusions

Although the number of transplantation centers has increased since 2005, the number of brain deaths and donors after brain death has not increased to the same extent for this period in these hospitals that have transplantation units.