Organ donation and management of the potential organ donor

Solid organ transplant offers the potential of disease-free survival for hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide. Transplantation not only increases life expectancy and improves quality of life, but offers long-term financial savings to health care systems. The clinician's role in early identification and management of potential donors en -sures that the maximum benefit can be gained from the gift of dona-tion. A chronic shortfall in transplantable organs has led to broadened inclusion criteria for donors, and a move towards pre-sumed consent models for donation. Protocolized and goal-directed donor management with early involvement of the transplant multidisciplinary team increases both the quality and quantity of grafts success-fully donated.