https://theleader.info/2025/06/08/living-organ-donation-has-more-than-doubled-in-the-valencian-community/

Living organ donation has more than doubled in the Valencian Community.

Total donations in the first five months of this year show an increase of 10.60%, with 146 donations compared to 132 in 2024.
[/size]By province, 89 donations have been registered in Valencia, 45 in Alicante and 12 in Castellón
[/size]In 2024, a historic record was reached for both organ donation and transplantation in the Valencian Community.
[/size]Living organ donation in the Valencian Community has more than doubled in the first five months of this year, rising from 4 last year to 10 in 2025.
[/size]To donate a living organ, you must be of legal age and in good physical and mental health. Spanish law guarantees that all rights of both the donor and the recipient are respected and that it is voluntary, free of charge, and altruistic. In the case of living organ donation, transplant recipients are almost always immediate family members of the donors.
[/size]Regarding total donations in these first five months of the year, there has also been an increase of 10.60%. Thus, 14 more donations were made than in 2024, increasing from 132 to 146. Of these, 89 donations were recorded in Valencia, 45 in Alicante, and 12 in Castellón.
[/size]These figures were provided by the regional transplant coordinator, Rafael Badenes, to commemorate National Organ and Tissue Donor Day, which takes place on the first Wednesday in June.
[/size]In this regard, Badenes especially thanked "all the donors and their families who, at the most difficult moment of their lives, with the death of a loved one, said yes to donation."
[/size]The regional coordinator also expressed his gratitude to all the professional transplant teams "for their involvement, availability, and professionalism."
[/size]TRANSPLANTING ACTIVITY
[/size]Regarding transplant activity, transplant teams performed a total of 285 organ transplants between January and May 2025, compared to 296 during the same period in 2024.
[/size]"This is because, despite the increase in the number of donations, our waiting list has fortunately decreased considerably thanks to the tremendous amount of activity last year," Badenes emphasized.
[/size]"In fact," he continued, "we have 'exported' many more organs than in previous years; that is, we have generated organs that are transplanted outside the Valencian Community to other patients who need them, reinforcing a model of national cohesion."
[/size]It should be remembered that in 2024 there was a historic record for both donation and transplants in the Valencian Community, with 305 donations, a growth of 11.3% compared to the previous year and a rate of 57.4 donors per million population, much higher than the national average (52.6), with the province of Castellón standing out with the highest rate in the world, with 95 donors per million population.
[/size]Furthermore, the Valencian Community recorded a 14.3% increase in organ transplants compared to 2023, with a total of 696 transplants performed.
[/size]While the total number of transplants decreased by 3.7% this year, kidney transplants increased by 16.14%, with 187 kidney transplants performed in 2025 compared to 161 in 2024.
[/size]By hospitals, La Fe Hospital leads the kidney transplant activity with 58 kidney transplants (1 pediatric), followed by Doctor Peset Hospital, with 35 transplants and Doctor Balmis Hospital in Alicante, with 33. The Clínico de València Hospital, with 23 transplants, General de Elche, with 22 and General de Castellón, with 16 transplants, complete the kidney transplant activity.
[/size]Furthermore, in these first five months, La Fe Hospital has performed 33 liver transplants (2 pediatric), 19 heart transplants (2 pediatric), 35 lung transplants, and 2 pancreas transplants. Meanwhile, Doctor Balmis Hospital in Alicante has performed 9 liver transplants.
[/size]EUROPEAN QUALITY AND SAFETY GUIDE
[/size]Badenes participated in the development of the ninth guideline for the quality and safety of organs for transplantation, a document drafted by a group of experts selected by the Council of Europe.
[/size]The guide is a reference for all professionals involved in organ donation and transplantation and is the most consulted document on the subject in the world.
[/size]This edition reviews all current topics, highlighting developments in such timely areas as donation in controlled asystole and organ preservation systems, and the inclusion of new chapters on principles and best practices in the distribution of organs from deceased individuals.
[/size]"It is undoubtedly a source of pride to have been selected to draft the most important international document on organ donation and transplantation, and it reflects the fact that our community's donation and transplant activity is an international benchmark," concluded Rafael Badenes.

https://www.brusselstimes.com/1614699/increasing-number-of-kidney-transplants-with-living-donors-in-belgium

Increasing number of kidney transplants with living donors in Belgium

Sunday 8 June 2025By Maïthé ChiniA Belgian hospital is performing an increasing number of kidney transplants with living donors. In 2024, doctors at UZ Leuven performed 21 of these kidney transplants – a remarkable increase compared to previous years.

Belgium is a world leader in post-mortem organ donation, but transplants involving a living donor are still relatively rare. Only 10% of kidney transplants in Belgium involve a kidney from a living donor, compared to 50% in the Netherlands.
"We are also seeing a clear increase in the number of potential donors who are willing to donate a kidney. There is a growing awareness. People realise that they can make a difference for a partner, child or friend," said transplant surgeon Prof. Dr Diethard Monbaliu.
Thanks to less invasive surgical techniques for the donor and new blood filtration methods for the recipient, living kidney donations are becoming more feasible and safer.Still, such transplants remain rather exceptional in Belgium: approximately 80 kidney transplants using living donors are performed each year, compared to more than 400 using kidneys from deceased donors.
However, scientific studies show that the chances of a successful kidney transplant are significantly higher if the kidney comes from a living donor. "Donating a kidney is something you do out of love or friendship. Because you can live with one kidney, the kidney is the only organ that we can transplant in its entirety from living donors," said Monbaliu.
Advantages for patientsLiving kidney donation has a number of medical and logistical advantages. As the donor can be screened extensively in advance, the quality of the kidney is usually better than that of a deceased donor.The transplant can also take place at a planned time, often even before the patient starts kidney dialysis, which greatly improves survival rates and quality of life. Because the kidney is placed in the recipient's body immediately after removal, the risk of rejection is also lower than with a kidney from a deceased donor, where the organ must first be cooled and transported."The living kidney donor must, of course, be in good health. That is why people who apply to be donors are thoroughly screened by an independent multidisciplinary team," said transplant nephrologist Prof. Dr Maarten Naesens."As a medical team, we do not take any risks: we certainly do not want to cause medical problems for a healthy person. Everyone who has donated a kidney for transplantation at UZ Leuven is monitored for life by transplant surgeons and nephrologists," he added.Thanks to new surgical techniques, such as keyhole surgery via small incisions, donors usually recover quickly and can often leave the hospital after just three days. Furthermore, an exact genetic match or blood group compatibility is less crucial, as antibodies can be filtered out before the operation. UZ Leuven started using these new surgical techniques and blood filtering in 2024.The low proportion of kidney transplants from living donors in Belgium is partly due to the success of the Belgian law on organ donation after death, which states that everyone is a potential donor (unless they have explicitly registered their objection during their lifetime).

This is likely why, unlike the Netherlands, Belgium has no tradition of living kidney donation. However, given the undeniable benefits for the patient, UZ Leuven wants to focus more strongly on this. A clear increase has already been noticeable in recent years, and the hospital expects a further increase in 2025.

https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-commercial-appeal/20250601/281599541434091

Family saves teen for a second timeMom, and now sister, donate kidneys to their youngest


Jada Daves, Shafer Daves, 15, and Shayli Daves, 23, sit together May 16 in Nashville nearly three weeks after Shayli donated a kidney to her brother. Shafer lives with a rare genetic disease, Denys-drash syndrome, that destroys kidneys....

https://www.waterfordlive.ie/news/national-news/1816964/alert-everyone-in-ireland-to-be-considered-organ-donor-under-new-laws.html

ALERT: Everyone in Ireland to be considered organ donor under new laws
New laws are to come into effect from June 17 2025


Rachel Kavanagh

[/size]New government legislation has made new changes to organ donating in Ireland that will come into effect on June 17 2025.One of the key changes to come into effect will be that when you turn 18 years old you automatically agree to become an organ donor if you die, unless you opt out.The Human Tissue Act 2024 includes provisions around donation and transplantation of organs, tissues, and cells, post-mortem practice and procedures, anatomical examination, and public display of bodies after death.Crucially, it embeds in legislation the idea that consent is the defining principle across all these sensitive areas.On 17 June 2025, the first phase of changes under this legislation are being brought into operation.These deal with the donation and transplantation of organs, tissues, and cells.Key features coming into effect from 17 June 2025: A soft opt-out system of consent for organ donation for individuals aged 18 and over;

   
• [/size]The concept of a "designated family member" i.e. the person to be consulted prior to donation of organs and tissues from deceased persons
• [/size]A way for people who wish to make a living donation of a kidney to someone they don't personally know (also known as non-directed altruistic donation).
• [/size]f you are 18 or over, you will be considered to have agreed to be an organ donor when you die, unless you opt out or are in one of the excluded groups.

[/size]This change only applies to organs referred to as relevant organs under the legislation.There are five relevant organs: liver, lung, pancreas, heart or kidney. For all other organs, tissues, or cells, consent will be sought from your family member – as was previously the case.Consent is at the heart of this change. It will still be your choice whether you want to be an organ donor.If you want to be an organ donor, you do not need to take any action.Consent for organ donation will be presumed unless you have registered your wish not to be an organ donor.If you do not want to be an organ donor, you can apply to the Relevant Organ Donation Opt-Out Register maintained by the HSE.If you are on this Register, your family will not be asked about organ donation.Whatever you decide, please let family and friends know your decision, so they can honour it.Loved ones will continue to be consulted before any action is taken.
[/size]
[/size]Why Is This Important?
[/size]At any given time, approximately 600 people in Ireland are on waiting lists for organ transplants.Adopting an opt-out system of consent for organ donation will bring Ireland in line with international best practice and aims to transform lives by increasing the donor pool in Ireland.Organ donation can save or improve lives. When someone dies, their family decides whether to donate their organs.It is important to inform your family about your decision regarding organ donation, as they will always be consulted and your wishes should be central to any decision.
[/size]
[/size]Non-directed altruistic donation – what is it?
[/size]This is a new pathway for living donation being introduced by the Human Tissue Act. A living person who donates an organ to someone they do not know is called a non-directed altruistic donor. They are donating an organ for someone on a waiting list who needs it. The Act provides for non-directed altruistic donation, by adults only with additional protections and safeguards in place for those wishing to donate. An Independent Panel will be established which will consider, among other types of donations, applications for non-directed altruistic donations.

https://rantnc.com/2025/06/02/grace-twice-given/

Grace, twice given
Sanford woman one of only a few in the U.S. to become two-time living organ donor
[/size]By Billy Liggett
[/size]
[/size]"Why is the question I get most often," says a young woman named Amanda, appearing in a black-and-white YouTube video while a student at Illinois State University. "At 21, donating a kidney to someone you've never met isn't really the norm. But then again, neither am I."Beyond the "blue hair, tattoos and crazy antics," she says in the video, was a young woman passionate about helping others and advocating for living organ donations. At the time, in 2006, she was the country's youngest ever recorded non-directed living kidney donor.Nearly 20 years later, Amanda Salisbury of Sanford has joined another rare list. Since 2000, about 10,000 people in the United States have become a living liver donor — donating a portion of their liver while alive and healthy. Factor in the number of people who have given both a kidney and part of a liver, and that number drops to just under 100. A double living donor. And in both of Salisbury's cases, a two-time "Good Samaritan" donor, meaning she didn't know the person who would benefit from her decision. She shares her story as an advocate for living donations — whether it's a healthy organ or blood, plasma or bone marrow — in hopes of sharing the statistics (it's generally safe for both the donor and the recipient) and the success stories of those who benefit from another's selfless act."I've met so many great people who have benefited from an organ transplant, and you see the way they live life afterward ... they live life to the fullest; they treat other people with respect and they're just so grateful to have this second chance at life," Salisbury says. "And it makes me so much happier that they've all had this opportunity to keep going."Salisbury had just turned 21 when she first heard of the idea of living organ donation. She had given blood a few times while in college, and she liked the thought that her donations could be used to save someone's life. While taking a break from school to refocus on majors and her career, Salisbury did her research and decided on her own to become an anonymous kidney donor at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago because of that hospital's success rates for both donors and recipients.She said the experience was "an absolutely phenomenal process, from start to finish." The surgery was performed laparoscopically, with a few small incisions and little scarring, and recovery was a breeze (she jokes she was running 5Ks around the nurses' station the next day). By the end of the week, she was back to volunteering at her local animal shelter and soon re-enrolled to finish her degree at Illinois State. "For me, it wasn't this 'huge' decision," she says. "I was young and otherwise healthy, and I knew that I would be the same living with one kidney. It wasn't going to change the quality of my life in any way. And I just thought that if I needed an organ, I'd want somebody to donate to me. And even more than that, what if the people I love and care about needed a transplant?"According to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, roughly 103,000 men, women and children are currently on the national transplant waiting list. Nearly 48,000 transplants were performed in this country in 2024 — yet, in this country, 13 people die each day while waiting for an organ transplant. Every eight minutes, a new person is added to the transplant waiting list. Kidneys are far and away the most common organ in need of transplant. In 2023, of the 46,629 transplant surgeries performed in the U.S., 27,332 of them were kidneys. Liver transplants were second at 10,659. In September of 2024, there were nearly 90,000 people on a kidney transplant waiting list in the U.S.Salisbury chose to donate anonymously, but a few days after her surgery, she was in the clinic waiting room for a follow-up appointment and noticed a young woman, accompanied by her mother, who was there for a follow-up as a kidney recipient. The mother figured out the connection, jumped up and began to cry, asking Salisbury for a hug. The three chatted for 10 minutes or so before their respective appointments, and she never heard from them again."The young woman did get up from her wheelchair for her appointment and shared that it was the first time in a while she'd felt well enough and strong enough to really walk," she says. "So, I never intended to meet her, but that was a pretty big moment. And it solidified the idea that I could really make a difference and that she was going to have a better quality of life."Had she not met the recipient, Salisbury says she liked the idea of giving anonymously, because she never wanted another person to feel like they owed her anything. "I was never a part of their life before this, so I didn't feel like I needed to be a part of it afterwards."Salisbury would go on to graduate from Illinois State and work in sales before becoming a clinical specialist. Also an advocate for animal rescue and adoption, she and her husband Forrest — whom she met after moving to North Carolina — launched Zoomies Funny Farm, a nonprofit animal welfare/rescue organization whose focus is to address the "animal care crisis" in North Carolina and working with animal lovers and other advocates to "foster a better way." This year marked 19 years since Salisbury's first living donation, and she said aside from some abdominal soreness for a few weeks, she'd experienced no negative effects from giving a kidney. She became interested in learning about becoming a double living donor after doing research on liver donations and the potential risks or side effects from such a procedure. In early May, she joined that exclusive list in what turned out to be a much more intense procedure. And unlike her first surgery in 2006, there were complications with her liver donation — a blood vessel was torn during the procedure (unknown at the time), and surgeons had to go back in and fix it. Salisbury lost significant blood between the surgeries (replenished, she happily notes, from blood donated by other people). She ended up spending six days in the hospital, and four weeks later, soreness remained.   "It's more invasive, and there's more risk involved," she says. "But I knew that going in. I also know the liver can regenerate to its normal size and function [most of it within six to 12 months]. Knowing all of this, I would do it again." Three years after her initial donation, Salisbury agreed to be filmed for that black-and-white video for Donate Life Illinois. She's since volunteered for the National Kidney Foundation, where she's met many donors and recipients and has seen the benefits on both sides. Her husband, Forrest, has also seen both sides of donating. He had a brother who passed away while he was in high school, but before his death, he was the beneficiary of an anonymous bone marrow transplant that extended his life. Forrest had signed up to be a donor then, but wasn't a match. He knew Amanda had donated a kidney before they met, and when she came to him with the idea of donating a liver, he wasn't going to try to talk her out of it."Her outlook is ... she wants the world to be a better place, and she wants all of us to do better," he says. "And she does this by leading by example. So, no, I wasn't really surprised when she brought it up to me. I gave her my concerns, of course, because it's surgery. But she assured me it would be fine. When we got married, I wanted to support her and everything she wants to do. If she didn't believe in this, she wouldn't do it. It made the decision easy, in that sense."While Amanda will always advocate for living donations, she also wants people to consider becoming donors after death. In North Carolina, more than 5.5 million people are designated as organ donors on their drivers license (out of 8 million drivers). It's a simple check mark that she says still too many people are hesitant to agree to because of what she calls "irrational fears." "Some fear that if they're facing life-saving surgery, a doctor may not put as much effort into saving a life because they know their organs could save other people, and that's just not true," she says. "I mean, if a doctor's goal is to save a life to begin with, why wouldn't he or she save yours?"She also hopes more people consider donating blood or plasma — North Carolina, like many states, has faced a blood shortage in recent years, impacting hospitals during critical times (most recently, during Hurricane Helene in the western part of the state). "Blood donation essentially saved my life," she says. "It's more accessible and feasible, and there's a critical shortage. And maybe if they know their blood is going toward saving a life, it will make them feel better about the process."

https://www.urotoday.com/recent-abstracts/endourology-urolithiasis/stone-disease/160982-eligibility-of-living-kidney-donors-with-kidney-stone-disease.html

Eligibility of Living Kidney Donors with Kidney Stone Disease.

Guidelines recommend that patients with a self-reported history of kidney stones or stones on imaging during living kidney donor (LKD) evaluation undergo 24-hour urine stone risk testing. We examined eligibility decisions for LKD candidates at two high-volume academic transplant centers based on 24-hour urine testing and imaging findings. We identified potential LKDs with a self-reported history of kidney stones or stones identified on imaging, who underwent 24-hour urine collection. Patients who could not donate due to other medical conditions were excluded. Differences in characteristics of patients approved vs. rejected for donation were determined using t tests and chi-square tests, or non-parametric tests when appropriate.


In total, 105 candidates met study criteria, of whom 22 (21%) were rejected for donation. Candidates rejected for donation had higher urinary calcium excretion (p<0.001), supersaturation of calcium oxalate (p<0.001), and supersaturation of calcium phosphate (p=0.02). Thirty-four candidates repeated 24-hour urine analyses following dietary or medical interventions for stone prevention. Candidates approved for donation had an increase in urinary volume (p=0.045), reduction in urinary calcium excretion (p=0.02), reduction in urinary oxalate excretion (p=0.04), and reduction in supersaturations of calcium oxalate (p<0.001), calcium phosphate (p=0.004), and uric acid (p=0.004).


Those rejected for donation had no statistically significant changes in urinary parameters. While those rejected for donation had more stones on imaging compared to those approved, this did not reach statistical significance (p=0.06). Overall, urinary risk factors for nephrolithiasis and improvement in them following dietary or medical management were associated with approval for donation.


American journal of nephrology. 2025 May 28 [Epub ahead of print]

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/public-health/2025/06/04/organ-donation-transplant-texas-dallas-hispanic-latino/



'Culturally, it's something we must begin to do': Organ donation lags among Hispanics40% of patients waiting for a transplant in Texas are Hispanic, but far fewer are registered donors By Abraham Nudelstejer
Gabbriel Atao's driver's license, which identified him as an organ donor, arrived at his Frisco home a week after his death. By then, the 17-year-old had fulfilled his life mission...