The Effect of Ideal/Standard Donor and Marginal Donor Use on Primary Graft Dysfunction After Lung Transplantation in Turkey.

Objective: The transplantation waiting list is getting longer day by day with the spread of lung transplantation and awareness of it. However, the donor pool cannot keep up with this rate. Therefore, nonstandard (marginal) donors are widely used. By studying the lung donors presented at our center, we aimed to raise awareness of the donor shortage and compare clinical outcomes in recipients with standard and marginal donors.

Materials and methods: The data from recipients and donors of lung transplants performed at our center between March 2013 and November 2022 were retrospectively reviewed and recorded. Transplants with ideal and standard donors were classified as group 1, and those with marginal donors were classified as group 2. Primary graft dysfunction rates, intensive care unit, and hospital stay days were compared.

Results: Eighty-nine lung transplants were performed. A total of 46 recipients were in group 1 and 43 were in group 2. There were no differences between groups in the development of stage 3 primary graft dysfunction. However, a significant difference was found in the marginal group for developing any stage primary graft dysfunction. Donors were mostly from the western and southern regions of the country and from the education and research hospitals.

Conclusion: Because of the donor shortage in lung transplantation, transplant teams tend to use marginal donors. Stimulating and supportive education for healthcare professionals to recognize brain death and public education to raise awareness about organ donation are necessary to spread organ donation throughout the country. Although our results using marginal donors are similar with the standard group, each recipient and donor should be assessed individually.