More donations of heart valves and blood vessels help patients

More than 3,000 people said “yes” to tissue donation in 2019. The donation and procurement of cardiovascular tissues has experienced a considerable increase. A donation program initiated in 2018 for heart valves and blood vessels after cardiovascular death is thus showing its first successes and is supplementing the donation of cardiovascular tissues as part of organ donations.

3,007 people or their next-of-kin have agreed to donate tissue in 2019. Finally, 2,764 tissue donations were realized in the nation-wide network of the non-profit German Society for Tissue Transplantation (DGFG); this corresponds to an increase of 1.2 percent compared to the previous year. “We are very grateful that hospitals are increasingly making tissue donation and thus the care of patients possible. This is very important, because this support is not a matter of course”, says Martin Börgel, Managing Director of the DGFG.

Annual Report 2019

Download an executive summary of our 2019 Annual Report. The full Annual Report 2019 is available here (German only).

5.827

nationwide allocated tissue transplants in 2019

Nationwide, the DGFG procured 5,827 tissue transplants for transplantation. Every single transplant means the chance for a new beginning for patients: corneal transplants can give clear vision, heart valves can restore performance and vascular transplants can prevent amputations.

New cardiovascular donation program shows success

In 2019, the DGFG placed 171 heart valves and 115 vessels for transplantation. Such cardiovascular tissues originate for the most part from organ donation. Since organ donation has stagnated at a low level for years, the donation of cardiovascular tissue is also limited. If an artificial heart valve or vascular prosthesis becomes inflamed, the transplantation of human donor tissue can be vital.

An infected prosthesis made of plastic cannot simply be replaced by a new plastic prosthesis. Doctor Torsten Morschheuser, head of the heart valve bank in Kiel, predicts an even further increase in demand: “Due to the massive use of antibiotics, resistance has been and is being created, which means that a significantly higher demand for vascular transplants can be expected in the future.

The DGFG is therefore intensifying programmes for the donation of heart valves and blood vessels for cardiovascular deceased patients. The irreversible loss of brain function (brain death) does not play a role; heart valves and blood vessels can still be removed up to 36 hours after cardiac death.10 such donations could be implemented in 2018; in 2019, 31 people donated cardiovascular tissue following cardiovascular death.

“Through the network of the DGFG, which has been established over the years, the complex donation of heart valves and vessels can be built up more and more successfully and relieve clinics to the maximum. Our nationwide structure, which ensures support and collection everywhere, is decisive,” Börgel emphasizes.

Standortkarte-DGFG-Stand-Dez-19-eng

On-site presence further expanded

The driving force for the positive development of tissue donation is the coordinators in the hospitals. They support the clinics where it is necessary – on site: in donor screening, in next-of-kin interviews, in tissue removal and in clarifying, for example, data protection issues. The coordinators examined a total of over 40,000 reports of potential donors from the clinics. In 7,598 interviews, they clarified the possibility of tissue donation. 47 coordinators are now working on tissue donation at over 100 hospitals throughout Germany from 31 locations.

Numerous university hospitals, municipal and confessional hospitals, but also large hospital associations cooperate in the open DGFG network. In 2019, the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital (LMU) Munich, the University Medical Center Göttingen, the Helios Klinikum Wuppertal and the Helios Hanseklinikum Stralsund were added as new DGFG locations. Since October 2019, the corneal bank of the LMU Clinic is also part of the DGFG network. 13 tissue banks in the network enable the best possible care for patients throughout Germany.

Almost every deceased person can donate tissue

Tissues that can be donated after death include corneas, heart valves, blood vessels, bones, tendons, ligaments and skin. The amniotic membrane comes from the donation of living tissue. The overall percentage of organ donors who donate tissue is very low. Brain death diagnostics plays no role in tissue donation: 2,392 tissue donors, i.e. almost 90 percent, died of cardiovascular arrest in 2019.

The DGFG has been promoting tissue donation and transplantation in Germany since 1997. Based on the Tissue Act of 2007, all activities and processes of tissue donation are regulated by law. The trade ban applies to all tissue preparations. The DGFG provides its transplants through a central allocation office with a nationwide waiting list. Every medical institution in Germany can obtain tissue from the DGFG. As an independent, non-profit association, the DGFG is exclusively supported by public health care institutions: shareholders are the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, the University Hospital Leipzig, the Hannover Medical School, the University Medicine Rostock and the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Hospital Neubrandenburg. The DGFG is unique in Germany in its structure, the voluntary nature of the support by the network partners and its independence from private or commercial interests.

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