OPTN/SRTR 2017 Annual Data Report: Deceased Organ Donation

SRTR uses data collected by OPTN to calculate metrics such as donation rate, organ yield, and rate of organs recovered for transplant but not transplanted. In 2017, 1,085,646 death and imminent death referrals were made to organ procurement organizations, of which 22,265 met the definition of eligible (11,673) or imminent neurological (10,592) deaths per OPTN policy. There were 10,286 deceased donors, and this number has been increasing since 2010. The number of organs authorized for recovery has also continued to increase since 2010. The recent increase may be in part due to the rising number of deaths of young individuals due to the opioid epidemic. In 2017, 4813 organs were discarded, including 3542 kidneys, 309 pancreata, 742 livers, 4 intestines, 33 hearts, and 272 lungs. These numbers suggest a need to reduce the number of organs discarded.