Criteria in the selection of organ transplant recipients

The purposes of this article are to describe the criteria used to select organ transplant recipients, to highlight the similarities and differences in these criteria, and to review the findings that support these criteria. Reports on criteria used in selecting heart, lung, liver, pancreas, and kidney recipients were reviewed in addition to reports on proposed approaches to allocating scarce health care resources. The conclusions are that criteria used for organ transplant recipient selection (other than medical criteria related to the diseased organ) vary from setting to setting, organ to organ, and are modified over time. No universal system has been adopted to guide recipient selection.