Shipping lungs greater distances increases costs without cutting waitlist mortality.

CONCLUSIONS: Organ acquisition costs and resource utilization increased with the new lung allocation policy, while deaths on the waiting list or after transplantation did not decrease. Further optimization of the allocation policy is necessary to balance access to transplant and proper stewardship of human and financial resources.
PMID: 32511997 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: The Annals of Thoracic Surgery - June 4, 2020 Category: Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Authors: Yang Z, Gerull WD, Gauthier JM, Meyers BF, Kozower BD, Patterson GA, Nava RG, Hachem RR, Witt CA, Byers DE, Marklin GF, Ridolfi G, Liu J, Kreisel D, Puri V Tags: Ann Thorac Surg Source Type: research