France's New Lung Transplant Allocation System: Combining Equity With Proximity by Optimizing Geographic Boundaries Through the Supply/Demand Ratio.

A new lung allocation system was introduced in France in September 2020. It aimed to reduce geographic disparities in lung allocation while maintaining proximity. In the previous two-tiered priority-based system, grafts not allocated through national high-urgency status were offered to transplant centres according to geographic criteria. Between 2013 and 2018, significant geographic disparities in transplant allocation were observed across transplant centres with a mean number of grafts offered per candidate ranging from 1.4 to 5.2. The new system redistricted the local allocation units according to supply/demand ratio, removed regional sharing and increased national sharing. The supply/demand ratio was defined as the ratio of lungs recovered within the local allocation unit to transplants performed in the centre. A driving time between the procurement and transplant centres of less than 2 h was retained for proximity. Using a brute-force algorithm, we designed new local allocation units that gave a supply/demand ratio of 0.5 for all the transplant centres. Under the new system, standard-deviation of graft offers per candidate decreased from 0.9 to 0.5 (p = 0.08) whereas the mean distance from procurement to transplant centre did not change. These preliminary results show that a supply/demand ratio-based allocation system can achieve equity while maintaining proximity.

New French heart allocation system: Comparison with Eurotransplant and US allocation systems.

Graft allocation rules for heart transplantation are necessary because of the shortage of heart donors, resulting in high waitlist mortality. The Agence de la biomédecine is the agency in charge of the organ allocation system in France. Assessment of the 2004 urgency-based allocation system identified challenging limitations. A new system based on a score ranking all candidates was implemented in January 2018. In the revised system, medical urgency is defined according to candidate characteristics rather than the treatment modalities, and an interplay between urgency, donor-recipient matching, and geographic sharing was introduced. In this article, we describe in detail the new allocation system and compare these allocation rules to Eurotransplant and US allocation policies.

Continuous Monitoring of Transplant Center Performance: Different Options for Different Goals.

BACKGROUND: In France, the need for continuous monitoring of transplant center performance has recently become apparent. Cumulative sum (CUSUM) monitoring of transplantation is already been used to monitor transplant outcomes in the United Kingdom and in the United States. Because CUSUM monitoring can be applied by different methods, the objective was to assess and compare the performance of different CUSUM methods for detecting higher than expected (ie, excessive) graft failure rates. METHODS: Data come from the French transplant registry. Lung and kidney transplants in 2011-2013 constituted the control cohort, and those in 2014-2016 the observed cohort. The performance of CUSUM monitoring, according to center type and predefined control limits, was measured by simulation. The outcome monitored was 3-month graft failure. RESULTS: In a low-volume center with a low failure rate, 3 different types of control limits produced successful detection rates of excessive graft failures of 15%, 62%, and 73% and false alarm rates of 5%, 40%, and 52%, with 3, 1, and 1 excess failures necessary before a signal occurred. In a high-volume center with a high failure rate, successful detection rates were 83%, 93%, and 100% and false alarm rates were 5%, 16%, and 69%, with 6, 13, and 17 excess failures necessary before a signal occurred. CONCLUSIONS: CUSUM performances vary greatly depending on the type of control limit used. A new control limit set to maximize specificity and sensitivity of detection is an appropriate alternative to those commonly used. Continued attention is necessary for centers with characteristics making it difficult to obtain adequate sensitivity or sufficiently prompt response.

Between-center disparities in access to heart transplantation in France: contribution of candidate and center factors - A comprehensive cohort study.

Transplantation represents the last option for patients with advanced heart failure. We assessed between-center disparities in access to heart transplantation in France 1 year after registration and evaluated the contribution of factors to these disparities. Adults (n = 2347) registered on the French national waiting list between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2014, in the 23 transplant centers were included. Associations between candidate and transplant center characteristics and access to transplantation were assessed by proportional hazards frailty models. Candidate blood groups O and A, sensitization, and body mass index ≥30 kg/m2 were independently associated with lower access to transplantation, while female gender, severity of heart failure, and high serum bilirubin levels were independently associated with greater access to transplantation. Center factors significantly associated with access to transplantation were heart donation rate in the donation service area, proportion of high-urgency candidates among listed patients, and donor heart offer decline rate. Between-center variability in access to transplantation increased by 5% after adjustment for candidate factors and decreased by 57% after adjustment for center factors. After adjustment for candidate and center factors, five centers were still outside of normal variability. These findings will be taken into account in the future French heart allocation system.