Thousands of kidney disease patients' lives could be saved around the world each year if countries adopted the UK's rules on organ donation, new research has revealed. In most countries, organ donation from donors without a heartbeat can only take place if the donor dies within one hour of organ removal. In the United Kingdom, kidneys can still be donated up to three hours after withdrawing this support.
Now, in a study published in JAMA Network Open , scientists at Newcastle University, UK, have shown that the quality of donor kidneys is unaffected by the time between withdrawing life support and the donor dying. Experts are now calling on international organ donation organizations to consider changing their policies to help increase the number of organs available. Time to death rules Most countries have strict time-to-death rules, and if the donor has not died within one hour after their life support is removed, the donation team leaves, and the organs are not used for transplant .
However, in the UK, teams wait a minimum of three hours, and scientists have found that waiting a few extra hours is beneficial to helping save as many lives as possible. Based on current trends in the United States, if this country alone adopted the three-hour rule, this could mean an extra 1,000 kidney transplants in America per year, and many more across the globe. Samuel Tingle, Clinical Research Fellow at Newcastle University, who led the study, said, "Our study debunks the idea that a one h.
