Evolution of the Concept of Death.

The definition of death remains unresolved. To define death, one has to define the characteristics of a living person and to confirm whether an individual with brain death fulfils any of these characteristics. Although the concept of irreversible cessation of brain function is clear, controversy remains on the treatment of individuals with brain death and beating hearts. An individual with brain death but a beating heart is not breathing on his own and is dependent on medications and machines to maintain respiration, heartbeat, and blood pressure. Muslim scholars remain divided over the issue of whether death also means irreversible cessation of brain function. Questions remain on when it is permissible to remove vital organs for organ transplant. Groups have advocated for uniformity in law and medical practice on the definition of brain death.

Trasplante hepático en Chile: pasado, presente y futuro / Hepatic transplantation in Chile: past, present and future

Resumen La donación de órganos en Chile es insuficiente, con una tasa histórica de alrededor de seis donantes por millón de habitantes. Las reformas legales, mejoras organizacionales y campañas comunicacionales han permitido hacer del año 2019 el más exitoso en cuanto a donación de órganos y trasplantes. El trasplante hepático en Chile fue realizado por primera vez en el año 1969 en el Hospital Naval de Valparaíso, falleciendo el receptor precozmente. El primer trasplante exitoso fue realizado en el año 1985 en el Hospital Militar de Santiago. Desde esa fecha hasta la actualidad se han realizado 1.812 trasplantes de hígado, el 43,6% en hospitales universitarios, el 35,1% en clínicas privadas y un 21,5% en hospitales estatales. El 23,1% en la Pontificia Universidad Católica (PUC), el 20,6% en el Hospital Clínico de la Universidad de Chile (HCUCH), el 15,9% en el Hospital Luis Calvo Mackenna (HLCM), el 15,9% en Clínica Las Condes (CLC), el 14,3% en Clínica Alemana de Santiago (CA), el 5,6% en el Hospital del Salvador (HdS), 2% en Clínica Dávila (CD), 2% en el Sanatorio Alemán de Concepción (SA) y 0,9% en Clínica Santa María (CSM) De este total, 455 son en pacientes pediátricos, de ellos 63,3% en Hospital Luis Calvo Mackenna el 21,1% en la Clínica Las Condes el 7,7% en la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, el 6,4% en la Clínica Alemana y 1,5% en el Sanatorio Alemán. Desde el 2015, aproximadamente el 80% de los trasplantes pediátricos se realizan en el HLCM. Sobrevidas reportadas en adultos van del 75% a 85% al año y de 75% a 92% al año en pacientes pediátricos dependiendo el período. Hay centros que nunca han reportado sus resultados. Se espera mejorar la educación en pro de una sociedad proclive en la donación, mejorar la organización de detección, mantención y procuramiento, aumentar la utilización de órganos, potenciar la utilización los de donantes cadáveres, con técnica Split o hígado dividido y, mientras no tengamos un sistema de donación que dé cuenta de las necesidades del país, mantener los programas de donante vivo. Finalmente debe motivarse a generaciones jóvenes para que se dediquen a esta importante actividad.

Organ donation in Chile is insufficient, with a historical rate of six donors per million inhabitants. Legal reforms, organizational improvements, and communications campaigns have made 2019 the most successful year in terms of organ donations and transplants. The first liver transplant in Chile was performed in 1969 at the Naval Hospital in Valparaíso. However, the patient passed away shortly after. The first successful transplant was performed in 1985 at the Militar Hospital in Santiago. As of that date to present day, 1.812 liver transplants have been performed: 43.6% of these in university hospitals, 35.1% in private clinics, and 21.5% in state hospitals. Of these, 23.1% were performed at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC), 20.6% at the Universidad de Chile Clinical Hospital (HCUCH), 15.9% at the Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospital (HLCM), 15.9% at the Las Condes Clinic (CLC), 14.3% at the Alemana Clinic in Santiago (CA), 5.6% at the del Salvador Hospital (HdS), 2% at the Dávila Clinic (CD), 2% at the Alemán Sanatorium in Concepción (SA), and 0.9% at the Santa María Clinic (CSM). Of this total, 455 correspond to pediatric patients. Of these patients, 63.3% were at the Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospital, 21.1% at the Las Condes Clinic, 7.7% at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 6.4% at the Alemana Clinic, and 1.5% at the Alemán Sanatorium. Since 2015, approximately 80% of pediatric transplants are performed at the HLCM. Reported one-year survival range from 75% to 85% in adults and 75% to 92% in pediatric patients per year, depending on the period. Some centers have never reported their results. It is expected that education of a society prone to organ donation improves, as well as improving the detection, maintenance, and procurement of potential donors, increasing the utilization of organs, enhancing the utilization of organs from deceased donors with Split technique, and, while we are building towards a donation system that responds to the needs of the nation, upholding live donor programs. Finally, younger generations are to be motivated so that they dedicate themselves to this important activity.

How Italy has moved from anatomical studies in the sixteenth century to body donation in the twenty-first century.

INTRODUCTION: The anatomical dissection plays a fundamental role in the students' formation as well as in the specialists' updating. In contrast to what happened in the sixteenth century, when medical students and professors from all over the Europe were used to come in Italy, today Italian surgeons have to go abroad to attend training courses, with inevitable economic costs and personal inconveniences. The reason for this circumstance lies in the existence of obsolete and even ethically unacceptable legal rules. The recent unanimous approval by the Italian Senate of the bill on postmortem body donation opens important perspectives. MATERALS AND METHODS: The authors, after having reviewed the main historical stages in anatomical dissection, examine the above mentioned recent bill n. 733 (XVIII Legislature) concerning the disposition of one's body and post-mortem tissues for the purposes of study, training and scientific research, taking into consideration also the international context. DISCUSSION: The bill aims to fill the serious legislative gap, not only offering the possibility of satisfying the noble needs of human solidarity, but also giving to future doctors a contact with death capable of promoting human and ethical values such as the respect for life. CONCLUSIONS: The Italian legal system presents - right now - serious operational gaps which make body donation practically unapplied. While waiting for the bill to finally see light, it is necessary to engage in educational activities that can promote the culture of this "gift" and, at the same time, that of respect for the body of the deceased person. KEY WORDS: Anatomical dissection, Body donation, Study and research.

The Law, Ethics and Body Donation: A Tale of Two Bequeathal Programs.

Historically, legislature has been utilized to facilitate appropriate use of cadavers in the anatomical sciences. However, cadaver acquisition and use have also been guided by ethically appropriate and morally acceptable principles. Various global and regional frameworks of "ethical practice" guide body donation, including the use of unclaimed bodies by institutions. These frameworks are responsive to, and reciprocal with the various ethical, moral and legal factors that influence the development of body donation programs. This reciprocity supports the notion that anatomists and anatomical societies have a responsibility to advocate for legal reform when required. In this study, two body bequest programs from geopolitically and socially disparate countries are used as cases to contrast existing legal and governance frameworks for body donation and to examine whether anatomists can direct the acquisition of ethically donated cadavers. The study includes an Australian donor program that has exclusively accepted bequests since its inception, and a South African program that has recently transitioned to a bequest system. Elements such as consent by next-of-kin and Inspector of Anatomy, use of unclaimed bodies and ethics committee approval amongst others, are compared. It is acknowledged that legal frameworks for cadaver acquisition generally deliver broad guidance on acceptable utilization of bodies for the anatomical sciences. However, professional discretion is of importance in adapting to societal needs and values. Thus, while anatomists have been able to progress toward more ethical practice than that which is required by the law, they must continue to do so as societal values evolve.

A Summary of Transplantation Activity in Hungary.

The first kidney transplantation was performed in Hungary by András Németh in 1962. It was a living donor procedure. After many years of silence, organized cadaveric programs were established in Budapest (1973), Szeged (1979), Debrecen (1991), and Pécs (1993). The heart program was initiated by Professor Zoltán Szabó in 1992 and the liver transplant program by Professor Ferenc Perner in 1993. The pancreas transplantation program was started in Pécs in 1998 by Károly Kalmár-Nagy, followed another in Budapest by Robert Langer in 2004. The lung transplant program was started in cooperation with Vienna in 1996. This fruitful collaboration continues today, even though that the national Hungarian program was established by Ferenc Rényi-Vámos and Professor György Lang in 2015, as it is detailed in this special issue. As a framework, the Hungarian Society of Organ Transplantation was founded in 1997 to give a scientific background for the transplant professionals. The coordination and organ allocation from deceased donors is carried out in collaboration with Eurotransplant. Usually more than 200 potential cadaveric donors are reported yearly, and 168 actual donation after brain death (DBD) donors (17.17 pmp) were utilized in 2018. The multiorgan donor rate was 65.5% among all DBDs in 2018; 505 organs were donated for transplant purposes. To date, more than 10,000 organ transplantations have been performed. The living related kidney transplant program was established in all transplant centers, led by Budapest. In this paper the authors summarize the activity of the Hungarian transplant community and of the Society over the last few decades.

Brain stem death - an overview.

The concept of brain death has been a very intriguing topic and has taken many forms over the years. Brain stem death is a complex state of inactivity defined by the loss of reflexes of the pathways that pass through the brain stem, the 'shaft' of the brain which links the spinal cord to the cerebral cortex and the cerebellum where there is apnoea, loss of eye movement and pain sensation. There are many criteria, based on which a person can be said to be brain dead. The best recognised of these are the Harvard, Minnesota and Philadelphia criteria. India follows the UK notion of brain stem death, and the Transplantation of Human Organs Act was passed in 1994 by the Indian parliament, which legalised brain-stem death, and in 1995 ordered the brain death certification procedure, which is certified by a 'Board of Medical Experts'. Also, there are some legal and ethical implications that have to be considered in cases of disagreement in diagnosis among the panel of doctors, time of death in cases when patients' relatives disagree or request more time for organ donation or to disconnect the life support system. In routine clinical practice, the issues pertaining to brain stem death should be dealt with by experienced physicians, counselling the family members or relatives and educating them about organ donation.

Liver Transplant in Colombia.

Liver transplantation began in Colombia in 1979. It is one of the most active countries in this field in Latin America but has faced problems with the regulation and appropriate management of solid organ transplantations, including transplant tourism, which is a worldwide problem. There is a well-structured donation and transplant network regulated by the government in all the stages of the process. In 2017, the country was ranked fourth for the number of liver transplantations (LTs) performed in Latin America, after Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, with a rate of 5.6 LTs per million population. Current regulatory bodies were created to coordinate and provide transparency and equality to transplant recipients. This article describes the evolution, government commissions, assignation criteria, and current status of LT in Colombia.

BODIES R US: Ethical Views on the Commercialization of the Dead in Medical Education and Research.

With the ongoing and expanding use of willed bodies in medical education and research, there has been a concomitant rise in the need for willed bodies and an increase in the means of supplying these bodies. A relatively recent development to enlarge this supply has been the growth of for- profit willed body companies ("body brokers") in the United States. These companies advertise for donors, cover all cremation and other fees for the donor, distribute the bodies or body parts nationally and internationally, and charge their users for access to the body or body parts. In doing so, they generate substantial profits. This review examines the historical development of willed body programs, the legal and economic aspects of willed body programs, and then provides an ethical framework for the use of willed bodies. The ethical principles described include detailed informed consent from the donors, comprehensive and transparent information about the process from the body donation organizations, and societal input on the proper and legal handling of willed bodies. Based on the ethical principles outlined, it is recommended that there be no commercialization or commodification of willed bodies, and that programs that use willed bodies should not generate profit.

Potential Impact of the Proposed Revised UNOS Thoracic Organ Allocation System.

The current United States heart allocation system faces 2 main challenges: an evolving landscape of device therapy in advanced heart failure and a rapidly increasing transplant waiting list. The proposed new heart allocation system involves expansion of the 3 tiers and enables greater distinction between different types of mechanical circulatory support devices. In this review, we discuss how the proposed revision reconciles key concerns of the current system to create a more fair and equitable allocation of hearts in the United States.

Practical Considerations in Donation After Circulatory Determination of Death in Switzerland.

Faced with similar issues of organ scarcity to its neighbors, Switzerland has developed donation after circulatory determination of death (DCDD) as a way to expand the organ pool since 1985. Here, we analyze the history, practical considerations, and ethical issues relating to the Swiss donation after circulatory death programs. In Switzerland, determination of death for DCDD requires a stand-off period of 10 minutes. This time between cardiac arrest and the declaration of death is mandated in the guidelines of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences. As in other DCDD programs, safeguards are put to avoid physicians denying lifesaving treatment to savable patients because of being influenced by receivers' interest. An additional recommendation could be made: Recipients should be transparently informed of the worse graft outcomes with DCDD programs and given the possibility to refuse such organs.

Organ allocation and utilization in pediatric transplantation.

Pediatric transplant candidates include heart, lung, liver, pancreas, small intestine, and kidney. The purpose of this article is to review the history and current methods for determining priority of the above-mentioned transplantable organs. The methods used by the authors involved the review of historical and current manuscripts and UNOS policy documents. We summarized the findings in order to create a concise review of the current policies and wait times for transplantation in pediatric transplant patients.