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Date: Friday, December 11, 1997
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: HRSA Press Office (301) 443-3376

The Department of Health and Human Services today released The 1997 Report of Center Specific Graft and Patient Survival Rates, showing overall survival rates for transplant recipients are at an all-time high. Kidney recipients lead the one year patient survival rate with 94.3 percent followed by pancreas recipients at 91.1 percent.

The study of more than 97,000 transplants also shows that patients who survive the first year post-transplant have excellent long-term prospects. For this group, three-year patient survivals range from 75.9 percent for lung recipients, to 81.2 percent for heart-lung, to more than 90 percent for kidney, liver, heart and pancreas.

For the first time, the tri-annual report analyzed survival rates separately for patients transplanted from January 1988 to April 1992 and those patients transplanted from May 1992 to 1994. The report shows a significant increase in one-year survival rates for more recent transplants. The greatest increases are seen in one-year graft survival rates for heart-lung, lung, and liver transplants, up seven to 12 percentage points for patients in 1992-94 over the rates for patients in 1988-92.

Unique among medical reports in the volume of data collected, this report compares the actual graft and patient survival rates at each transplant program to its expected survival rates. More than 90 percent of the transplant programs equaled or exceeded their three-year conditional survival rate. The report includes a narrative written by each transplant program about its data.

"This report with data on nearly 100,000 transplants is a clear indication that transplantation is a life-saving treatment," said Claude Earl Fox, M.D., M.P.H., acting administrator of HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration. "Information like this is important in helping patients make informed medical decisions in consultation with their physicians."

When reviewing transplant centers, patients consider the experience, training and education of the transplant team and the medical and nursing care available throughout the transplant process. Other factors they examine include transplant procedure costs, physician services, hospitalization and medications. Distance to and from the transplant center and how easily the transplant center can be reached are also points to ponder. Friends and family available to the patient for assistance before, during and after the transplant along with the support facilities are another part of the decision when choosing a transplant center.

HRSA is the HHS agency that oversees operation of the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network and the U.S. Scientific Registry for Transplant Recipients with its contractor, the United Network for Organ Sharing.

"With the success of organ transplantation, the need for organs is growing much faster than the number of donated organs. The waiting list is now more than 55,000," said Dr. Fox. "We hope this report will remind the public to choose donation and to tell their families, so that the families will not have any question about their decision."

Information in the report is also used by UNOS to evaluate centers with below-expected outcomes. Following the 1991 and 1994 release of the report, the UNOS Membership and Professional Standards committee developed objective criteria to determine which programs should be reviewed because of lower-than-expected actual survival rates. The 1997 report identifies 15 kidney programs, 13 liver programs and 15 heart programs with less than expected graft survival rates in both report periods.

The 1997 Report of Center-Specific Graft and Patient Survival Rates is available through UNOS. The report can be accessed from UNOS' Web site at: www.unos.org. Copies of the entire nine volume report or volumes for each organ can also be obtained through the UNOS Resource Distribution Center at (804) 330-8541. Patients may obtain copies of data, along with a User's Guide, for up to ten centers at no charge by calling (888) TX-INFO1.

Editor's Note: Four important definitions regarding the report follow:

Patient survival: how long the patient lives after receiving a transplant.

Graft survival: how long the transplanted organ functions.

Conditional three-year survival rates: the three-year survival rate for those who survived at least one year following the transplant. This rate permits assessment of factors that affect long-term survival

Expected survival rate: the overall national survival rate for transplants that involved the same recipient and donor characteristics as those observed at that program during the period for the study. Characteristics that are taken into account include type of transplant, cause of recipient's organ failure, recipient medical urgency status and various donor and recipient demographics.