Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 10, 2026
Ex Situ Normothermic Machine Perfusion of Donor Livers
Published on: May 26, 2015
[Cost evaluation of organ harvesting in a Belgian academic hospital]
S Bardiaux1, D Martins1, P Leclercq1
1Centre de recherche en Economie de la Santé, Gestion des Institutions de Soins et Sciences infirmières, Ecole de Santé Publique, ULB.
Introduction:
The aim of this study is (1) to describe the characteristics of the organ harvesting activity conducted in 2012 at the Erasme's Hospital, Brussels University Hospital, (2) to highlight the different combinations " type of donor/types of organ's retrieved " in relation to organ harvestings carried out within the hospital, and (3) to calculate the organ harvesting's cost of acts.
Methods:
The study is conducted according to the hospital perspective. It assesses the consumption of medical and nursing staff resources, disposable material costs, medical device costs, drugs costs, sterile instruments and biomedical equipment costs, of the 34 organ harvesting procedures that has been conducted this year. Costs are calculated by procedure, by donor's type, by organ and by combinations.
Results:
Total cost is 99.442 €, with an average cost per donor of 3.016 €, 3.292 € for DBD postmortem donor (Donor Brain Death) and 2.456 € for DCD type (Donor Cardio-Circulatory Death). The average cost per organ leading to a transplantation is 1.842 € for DCD type and 1.297 € for DBD.
Conclusion:
The results show that there is as many costs as the number of organ harvesting's combinations. Integrate the revenue generated by organ harvestings could establish whether funding sources cover the costs generated by this activity or if a reform of the nomenclature should be considered.
