Who is the donor?

The presumed consent is established in France. For those who are against it, do not worry, you can refuse! Your decision is even more important. Yes or no to organ donation, do always know where you stand.
I am a donor?

In France, regulations and donor criteria are clear and precise:

Every person is a willing body except legal opposition performed and reported in the National Register of Refusal and communicated to his family or his family donor. If a person refuses presumed consent, it must be part of the National Register of refusal to the Biomedicine Agency. In this case, all samples for transplant or autopsy is prohibited before or after his death. The inscription on the register can be done at the age of 13 years, but the decision can still be canceled if the person changes his mind.

When the deceased is not listed in the National Register of Refusal, physicians must examine the environment and the decision is often based on the consent of the family or not.

A donor card is also documentary evidence of a person's consent to organ donation. However, this card has no value before the law.

Organ donation reflects mainly the functional state of the body to be taken. Thus, it is the only criterion for whether or not to initiate the process of organ donation. Indeed, knowledge of the functional state of the body is used to evaluate the risks and benefits of this organ during transplantation in a sick person.

Organ donation post-mortem

Organ removal is usually done on a deceased person. Any deceased person is a donor. Subject to prior approval and consent of the family further facilitates the process of organ donation.

There are several circumstances of death, in which organ donation can be achieved.

Organ harvesting performed on a person in a state of brain death is common. The state of brain death is a permanent absence of brain activity. It is due to a lack of blood flow and brain function and is a permanent destruction of all nerve cells.

Prior to the completion of the organ removal, the final statement of brain death must be proved and verified by neurological examinations. It is common to perform two successive encephalograms 4 hours apart and a brain angiography or CT angiography.

Organ harvesting is done after certification of irreversible and unquestionable character of the state of brain death.

The state of brain death may be due to stroke, head trauma, cerebral edema and intracranial hypertension.

Organ harvesting can also be done on a deceased person in cardiac arrest. This is a very new program in France, but the procedures and the implementation must follow a strict protocol and conditions, established by the Biomedicine Agency. It was found that this case gives a better success rate of transplantation.

Many organs can be donated to post-mortem, according to their functional states and according to the needs and demands:

- The kidney and liver are the most sought

- The heart, heart valves

- The lung

- The pancreas

- The cornea

- The bones and cartilages

- A part of the intestine (rare)

- Skin

Many organs can be taken from a donor, allowing transplants on different patients.

A living donor ...

Organ donation can be done with a living donor. However, living donation is an act performed exceptionally in a therapeutic purpose for the recipient.

Kidney, part of the liver and bone marrow are essentially donated.

Organ donation in his lifetime is now very common in France. However, the expectations of recipients can be very long.

For kidney donation, a donor family (siblings) often yields good results.

Several conditions must be met in organ donation during his lifetime:

The gift is made by an adult, whose consent is clear and precise: a letter of consent in writing and authenticated a request for debit authorization.

The donor must have a family relationship or a balanced emotional connection (at least two years) with the recipient: parent, child, sibling, spouse ....

The tissue compatibility between donor and recipient is required. However, in case of conflict, the medical team performs a paired donation, while respecting the anonymity.

The donor must have attended sessions psychological preparation, and must be informed by the medical staff on the physical, psychological professional consequences of his act.

Generally, according to the findings of the Biomedicine Agency, living donors say they have a good quality of life after surgery. However, some complications have been identified as the scar pain, infections, hypertension or pulmonary disease.

However, the risks are higher for liver donation in his lifetime.