Even though there has been an increase in the number of heart transplants performed recently, only around one-third of potential donors were usually accepted for the procedure. It was unknown whether the sexual orientation of donors, the use of drugs by donors, or the impression of greater danger impacted usage for transplantation. From January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2017, a search for donors was conducted using the United Network for Organ Sharing database. When it was possible, toxicological samples were gathered from donors. A multivariate analysis was carried out to investigate the relationships with donor use. The findings show that between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2017, 87,816 heart donors aged more than or equal to 15 years or younger. The average age was between 42.7 and 15.8 years, and there were 24,831 donors (28.3%) used for heart transplants. Subsequent analyses concentrated on participants aged 15 to 39 years old as donors. The characteristics most strongly associated with a donor’s likelihood of being accepted were male donor sex, blood type, hepatitis C antibodies, donor age, left ventricular hypertrophy, and history of donor drug use. After hepatitis C was removed from the equation, the Public Health Service Increased Risk was discovered to be a powerful negative predictor. The majority of positive drug toxicological results were connected with the nonuse of the donor, except for donors between the ages of 15 and 19. Alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine were among the prohibited substances. Opiates were related to lower use across the board, regardless of the donor’s age. Increased Risk status from the Public Health Service was related to significantly lower usage across all age groups, except donors aged 15 to 19 years old. In conclusion, although male donors were used more frequently for heart transplantation, the number of donors who used drugs or were classified as having an increased risk by the Public Health Service was much lower. Because there was an ever-increasing demand for transplantation, it was important to give further consideration to donors of this kind.
Source – ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.122.009547
