Risk assessment in deferred and recovered donors

Abstract

Serologic testing and Donor Risk Assessment Interview (DRAI) combined have made tissue transplantation a frequent and safe modality for a variety of trauma and disease conditions. Donate Life America reports 30,000 tissue donors providing more than 1,750,000 tissue transplants annually. This study of 188 potential donor cases addresses issues of risk assessment in a medical examiner population in a metropolitan area, where serologic testing of deferred potential donors were compared with the DRAI screening, which determined the suitability or non-suitability for tissue procurement. Such serologic testing of deferred cases is not usually available in evaluating screening processes. This comparison gives insight into the effectiveness of the DRAI screening in deferring potential serology reactive donors. Results show in 65 cases how the DRAI screening eliminates most, but not all of the serologically reactive donors identified post recovery. The result emphasizes the need for the combined process of DRAI screening and testing to assure transplantation safety.

Keywords: Serologic testing; Tissue Donation: Donor Risk Assessment Interview (DRAI) screening.

Fig. 1

ME case deferrals predominately in male population

Fig. 2

Recovered Case Gender Distribution Predominately Male

Fig. 3

Age range between 35 and 53 years for greatest number of Deferred Medical Examiner cases with overall range between 18 and 66 years

Fig. 4

Age range between 4 months and 71 years with greatest concentration between 31 and 54 years