Call for changes to infant organ donation guidelines

Conclusion This study from Great Ormond Street Hospital has found that over half of the infants who died were potential infant organ donors. It is important to note that this is likely to be an overestimate as not all the information needed to assess whether an infant could be a donor was available, and the number of families who might have consented is impossible to know. For some of these infants to become donors, guidelines would need to be changed and for all of them, systems would need to be put in place to facilitate transplantation after an infant’s heart stopped beating. A new source of potential donation organs would be invaluable in treating rare but severe conditions such as tricuspid atresia where a baby is born with defective heart valves. A neonatal heart donation could potentially cure this serious condition. Analysis by Bazian. Edited by NHS Choices. Follow Behind the Headlines on Twitter. Join the Healthy Evidence forum. Links To The Headlines Allow parents to donate the organs of babies who die, urge doctors. The Guardian, March 17 2014 'Crazy' organ donation rules lead to baby deaths, say doctors. BBC News, March 18 2014 Parents of newborns who die in intensive care should be allowed to donate the baby's organs, say Great Ormond Street doctors. Mail Online, March 18 2014 Children in need of organ donations have "the odds stacked against them". ITV News, March 18 2014  Links To Science Charles E, Scales A, Brierley J, et al. The potential for...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Pregnancy/child Medical practice Source Type: news