Organ donation: the reality of an intensive care unit in Portugal

To clinically and demographically characterize potential organ donors admitted to a general intensive care unit and analyze data on donated organs. This retrospective study was conducted from 2010 to 2015 and analyzed demographic and clinical variables and the number of harvested organs and tissues. A total of 92 potential organ donors were identified, of whom eight were non-effective donors and 84 were effective donors (59.5% were expanded criteria donors). The mean age of the potential donors was 60.7 years, and the majority were men. Hemorrhagic stroke accounted for 55.4% of brain deaths. The most common blood type among the donors was A Rh+ (43.5%), and the most common comorbidity was arterial hypertension (43.3%). The most frequently collected organs were the kidneys (84.5%) and liver (66.7%). The average number of organs harvested per donor was 2.8, and this ratio was smaller for donors with expanded criteria compared to other donors. In most cases, potential organ donors died of brain death, were older than middle age, were male and were victims of a hemorrhagic stroke. The majority of the donors were expanded criteria donors and donated an average of two to three organs. The organs donated most frequently were the kidneys and liver.