Current Data on Organ Donation and Transplantation in Poland: Poltransplant Activity 2017 to 2022.

BACKGROUND: In this paper, we present organ donation and transplantation activities in Poland from 2017 to 2022. Data came from registries maintained by the Polish Transplant Coordinating Center Poltransplant and consisted of the national waiting list, deceased donor registry, transplant registry, and the live donor registry. Poltransplant is the Competent Authority in Organs, with tasks related to preparing assessments, analyses, information, and reports in transplantation medicine and publishing and disseminating these results in the country and abroad. Poltransplant edits the Poltransplant Bulletin on its web pages and presents its activities at Polish Transplantation Society congresses, published consecutively as professional papers.

Demand for Continuous and Long-Term Care in Transplant Recipients: Data From the Organ Transplantation Registry-Poltransplant Activity.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to determine the number of recipients with active transplants under the care of transplant centers in 2022 and the current volume and needs for continuous and long-term care in this group of transplant recipients. Data came from the organ transplant registry, one of the registries maintained by the Polish Transplant Coordinating Center Poltransplant. We included recipients of individual organs who, on January 1, 2022, were living with an active transplant performed in previous years and recipients who received a transplant in 2022. The number of recipients under the care of transplant centers in 2022 was 20,994 (55% of all transplants performed in Poland since the beginning of activity in 1966).

National Organ Transplant Registry in Poland. Poltransplant Activity.

BACKGROUND: In 2006 the National Transplants Registry administered by national transplant organization was introduced in Poland to monitor the results of organ transplantations. Statistical analysis is published yearly in the Poltransplant Bulletin, publicly available on the website and reported to European institutions. The transplant registry cooperates with other registers functioning online, based on the tool https://rejestrytx.gov.pl/. We present the formal analysis of data collected for the years 1996-2019. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Analysis covered the total number of organ transplantations in every transplant center; outcomes are related to recipients living with a functioning graft 1, 5, and 10 years after transplantation; results presented are real, not extrapolated. RESULTS: The total number of deceased-donor kidney transplantations was 20,606, the 1-year survival rate of recipients with a functioning graft was 90% (data completeness of 97%), and the 10-year survival rate was 59% (data completeness of 99%). The total number of deceased-donor liver transplantations was 4790; the 1-year survival rate of recipients with a functioning graft was 59% (data completeness of 98%). SUMMARY: The National Transplant Registry is an important tool for quality and safety systems in the transplantation field on the national level. The registry efficiently and effectively fulfills its tasks related to collecting records of all transplantations performed. Monitoring function for graft and recipient survival is also satisfied. The data provide an important and unique source of information to be used by transplant institutions and referred to in the literature.

The Current Status of Organ Donation and Transplantation in Poland. Poltransplant Activity.

BACKGROUND: This article summarizes comprehensive information about the current status of organ donation and transplantation in Poland. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Reported statistical data of solid organs and vascularized composite allograft donation and transplantation from both deceased and living donors in Poland in 2015-2020 (presented in tables according to selected variables) are based on the national transplant registries, gathering information on donation and transplantation activity in medical centers involved in donation and transplantation programs in Poland. RESULTS: In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, 529 potential deceased donors were referred to the Polish Transplant Coordinating Centre Poltransplant; 1310 solid organs from 393 actual deceased donors (10.2 per million population) were procured, mostly kidneys (758), livers (285), and hearts (157). Eighty percent were multiorgan retrievals (314). In 2020, 1231 organs procured from deceased donors and 59 organs from living donors were transplanted to 1236 recipients. CONCLUSION: This overview indicates that donation and transplantation activity from deceased donors in Poland decreased about 20% in 2020 compared with 2019, which is comparable with worldwide rates. As the unprecedented pandemic situation affected donation and transplantation procedures, there are measures that must to be taken to return to prepandemic donation and transplantation rates in both deceased and living transplant programs and then continue to improve in the years to come.

Non-Donor Registry in Poland: Poltransplant Activity.

BACKGROUND: Organ, tissue and cell procurement from deceased donors for transplantation requires consent and authorization, documented donor's positive acceptance, or lack of objection to donation expressed while alive. It also requires the fulfillment of other legal conditions required by the law, such as person's legal abilities to act in this field or to obtain approval for donation. Consent to and authorization of donation from deceased donors requires regulations on national level. Poland developed an opting-out policy since 1996, when The Central Register of Objections (CRO) was introduced. The purpose of this article is a formal analysis of all submitted objections and objection withdrawals managed by the CRO since the introduction of the registry until the end of 2020. METHODS: All data collected by the CRO during 25 years of service was subject of analysis. The objections and withdrawals of objections are summarized in the tables, along with the age, sex and place of residence of registered person. RESULTS: By December 2020, a total 37,728 records were registered, including 37,392 registered objections and 336 registered withdrawals of objections; this means that 0.09% of the country's population expressed objection to deceased donation. CONCLUSIONS: The CRO is an indispensable option in a country with opt-out system as a part of deceased donation authorization protocol. Number of registered objections is extremely low, in practice, this leads to a situation where the will of the deceased most often is obtained from the family.