Bridging the gap: assessing organ donation and transplantation rates in northeast of Mexico. A transplant program with 27 years of experience.

Abstract

Background: Transplants are the current therapeutic standard for organ failure. In Mexico, there are currently almost 20,000 patients waiting for a solid organ or tissue transplant.

Objective: To summarize the rates of organ donation and transplants in the northeast of Mexico.

Material and methods: We performed an observational, retrospective, epidemiological study using the collected data of solid organ and tissue transplants performed in 27 hospitals licensed for organ donation and transplantation in Nuevo Leon between 1996 and 2022. This study was approved by the clinical and epidemiological research committee of the Secretaria de Salud de Nuevo Leon.

Results: From 1996 to 2022, 14,834 transplants were performed in Nuevo Leon. 4,185 (28.2%) were solid organ transplants and 10,649 (71.8%) were tissue transplants. Kidney transplants represented 84.3% (n = 3,528) of solid organ transplants, while corneal transplants represented 66% (n = 7047) of tissue transplants. From 2015 to 2022, organ and tissue donations reported in the state of Nuevo Leon represented an average of 5% of the national reported donations.

Conclusions: Nuevo Leon has made significant advances in donation and transplantation, achieving good coverage for its population. However, there are many limitations in the current donation and transplantation system.