The reverse side of the coin
The "opiate epidemic" in the US has reduced the waiting lists of organs
Anna Kerman, XX2 century, according to the LA Times: Organs from drug overdose victims could save the lives of patients on transplant waiting list.
The epidemic of opiate overdose deaths in the United States continues and does not seem to be going to stop. However, this medal suddenly revealed a downside, and quite a bright one: thanks to opiate users who die early, the "waiting lists" of donor organs can be reduced in the camp. Today, about 120 thousand Americans live in anticipation of transplantation.
In 2000 a total of 149 organs of people who died from an opiate overdose were transplanted to those in need of "new" lungs, heart, kidneys or liver. In 2016, 3,533 such transplants have already been carried out.
According to the authors of the new study, the increased availability of donor organs due to the "opiate epidemic" slightly increased the five-year survival rate of transplant patients.
Traditionally, young and healthy people who died as a result of trauma were considered the most "promising" among donors. Those whose brain died as a result of a stroke or heart attack are also among the donors. But, as a rule, their organs are more worn out and compromised by such risk factors on the part of the donor as arterial hypertension, diabetes and elevated cholesterol levels.
As organ donors, victims of drug addiction are a heterogeneous group. For the most part (about two thirds) they are quite young, from 21 to 40 years old, and, as a result, their organs have suffered less from cardiovascular diseases. On the other hand, drug users are more likely to be infected with serious infections, such as HIV and viral hepatitis B and C.
The prevalence of opiate overdose deaths in the United States has tripled since 2000. This is the result of the "opiate epidemic". This sad trend has led to a 24-fold increase in the frequency of organ transplants from donors who died of overdose.
In a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, scientists from Johns Hopkins University decided to find out how the massive abuse of opiates changed the prospects of recipients of donor organs. To answer this question, the researchers analyzed the medical information of 138,565 deceased donors and 337,934 transplanted organs. Transplants were performed in the period from 2000 to 2016.
Scientists found that those who received a heart or lungs from a deceased opiate user had 1-5% higher chances of living five years after surgery than those whose donors died as a result of injury or natural causes. In the case of a kidney or liver transplant, the chances of successfully overcoming the five–year milestone increased by 2-3% - again, if the donor died due to an opiate overdose, and not from the disease. But in comparison with the victims of accidents, the situation turned out to be exactly the opposite: kidney or liver transplantation worsened the five-year survival rate by an average of 3%.
However, there is one big problem with deceased organ donors who died of an overdose: they are much more likely than those who died of illness or died as a result of an accident to be infected with HIV infection and viral hepatitis. By 2017, almost 30% of donors who died from drug abuse were infected with hepatitis C. Among all other donors, the prevalence of this dangerous infection was 3-4%. Fortunately, modern test systems help surgeons to quickly understand whether a potential donor is infected. And antiviral drugs of the latest generation improve the prognosis for the recipient even when an infected organ has been transplanted to the patient.
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