The Role of the Transplant Coordinator on Tissue Donation in Turkey L. Yu ¨ cetin, N. Kec ¸ eciog ˘ lu, A.M. O ¨ zenci, Y. So ¨g ˘u ¨ ncu ¨ , K. I ˙ slamog ˘ lu, and F.F. Ersoy ABSTRACT While solid organs represent the dramatic and lifesaving aspect of donation after death, the transplantation of tissues from donors after death is a much larger-scale activity that benefits enormous numbers of patients, usually in a life-enhancing rather than a lifesaving manner. Some types of tissue transplantation, such as heart valve and cornea transplan- tation, have been established for many decades and are reasonably well understood by health professionals and the public. Many other types of tissue donation, such as bone, skin, tendons, etc, are much less well known but nonetheless result in beneficial treatment for large numbers of patients. Skin is used to prevent fluid loss and infection following a major burn; bone is used to improve the clinical success of a range of orthopedic operations, such as joint replacements, spinal fusions, and reconstructions following trauma or tumor. In the United States more than 20,000 donors provided cadaveric tissue in 1999, compared to 6,000 in 1994. We ask all families of brain-dead donors for consent for tissue donation. Between January 1, 1999, and January 3, 2003, we had 58 actual cadaveric donors, procuring three skins, 15 tendons, six bones, 13 heart valves, and 40 corneas. We performed three skin, 40 tendon, and three bone transplants as well as storing other tissues. One donor can give health to 50 different recipients. In general, the argument runs for a transplant coordinator “if you can do it, then you must.” We can save lives and present a better quality of life with solid organ and tissue donation. W HILE SOLID ORGANS represent the dramatic and lifesaving aspect of donation after death, a much larger-scale activity is transplantation of tissues that benefits enormous numbers of patients, usually in a life-enhancing rather than a lifesaving manner. Some types of tissue transplantation, such as heart valve and cornea, have been established for many decades and are reasonably well understood by health professionals and the public. Other types of tissue donation, such as bone, skin, tendons, etc, are much less well known but nonethe- less result in beneficial treatments for large numbers of patients. Skin is used to prevent fluid loss and infection following a major burn. Bone is used to improve the clinical success of a range of orthopedic operations, such as joint replacements, spinal fusions, and reconstructions following trauma or tumor. In the United States more than 20,000 donors provided cadaveric tissue in 1999 compared to 6,000 in 1994. 1 Unlike organ donation, tissue donors are often asystolic and have died up to 24 hours before tissue retrieval. Thus the potential pool of tissue donors is far greater than that of solid organ donors. The second major difference between organ and tissue transplantation is that tissues can be preserved and therefore stored for later use. The length of storage time varies depending on the tissue and the method of preservation. There is not a tissue transplant coordinator in Turkey. At our institution transplant coordinators ask all potential donor families for consent for tissue donation. Between January 1, 1999, and May 15, 2003, we had 60 cadaveric donors from whom we procured four skins, 17 tendons, six bones, 13 heart valves, and 42 corneas. We performed three skin, 40 tendon and three bone transplantations and stored the others for later use (Table 1). 2 ACL reconstruction rather than the primary repair is the method of choice in ACL insufficiency, since the impor- From the Akdeniz University Medical School Transplant Cen- ter (L.Y., N.K., F.F.E.), Antalya, Turkey, and Departments of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (A.M.O ¨ .), and Plastic and Re- constructive Surgery (K.I ˙ .), Akdeniz University Medical School, Antalya, Turkey. Address reprint requests to Levent Yu ¨ cetin, MD, Akdeniz University Medical School, Translant Center, Arapsuyu, 07070, Antalya, Turkey. E-mail: lyucetin@akdeniz.edu.tr 0041-1345/04/$–see front matter © 2004 by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.transproceed.2003.11.069 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010-1710 22 Transplantation Proceedings, 36, 22-23 (2004)