Defining safety limits in organ donation: The non-standard risk donor

The transmission of diseases through organ transplantation is an inherent risk to the transfer of biological material between individuals. This risk must be minimised, while also avoiding the unnecessary loss of organs suitable for transplantation obtained from donors with a history of a condition that may affect organ function or may be transmitted to the recipient-such donors are referred to as non-standard risk donors. The final decision to transplant organs from these donors must be made following a thorough risk/benefit assessment. To this end, the approach in Spain has been based on the provision of targeted support to transplant teams through the development and adoption of reference documents, a second-opinion system, and the generation of evidence through the prospective follow-up of recipients of organs transplanted from this type of donors.