Paris (AFP)
After a decline in 2018, the first in eight years, organ transplants have started to rise again in 2019, the Biomedicine Agency said on Tuesday.
Last year there were "at least 5,897 transplants in 2019 (all organs combined), 92 more transplants than in 2018", according to the agency responsible for supervising harvesting and transplants.
This represents an increase "of 1.6%, all organs combined, despite a drop in the number of living and deceased donors".
The number of kidney transplants (deceased and living donors) improved with 3,641 in 2019 compared to 3,567 the previous year. On the other hand, the share of those made thanks to living donors decreased, for the second consecutive year (611 in 2017, 541 in 2018 and 508 in 2019).
Transplants from living donors mainly concern the kidney, but also the liver (only part of which is taken from the donor).
The majority of transplants are based, all organs combined, on brain-dead donors. But their number decreases with the progress of medicine, especially in the field of stroke. In 2019, these donors were 1,729 (compared to 1,743 in 2018).
Regarding the number of transplants, the year 2019 experienced "during the first six months a very encouraging growth of + 8%" while "the last six months recorded a more slow activity, especially in the last quarter ", notes the health agency.
In addition, 459 grafts were made thanks to a "Maastricht III" type donation (compared to 281 in 2018, i.e. + 63%). This type of donation involves donors who have died of cardiac arrest following a scheduled cessation of treatment due to the seriousness of their condition (irreversible brain damage, after a heart attack or drowning, for example).
After eight years of strong growth, the organ transplant activity had decreased in 2018 (-5%) with 5,805 transplants. Most of this decline came from kidney transplants, the most common.
The decrease was not linked to refusals to remove organs from the population since they have remained stable for several years (30% to 30.5%).
© 2020 AFP