Halifax - Tx program taking root in region

[Guest guest]

Transplant

program taking root in region - Local organ operations, donors rise

The Halifax-based multi-organ

transplant program continued to grow in 2006 and is set to expand again this

spring. Dr. Bjorn Nashan

and his team did a record 34 liver transplants in 2006, more than were done in

2001 when the liver transplant program

at the Queen II Health Sciences Centre was shut down. Local liver transplants resumed in 2004. Eleven heart transplants and 101 kidney

transplants were also done in Halifax last year. " We

had a great year, " Dr. Nashan said in an

interview. In April the program will

begin doing combined kidney-pancreas transplants, which until now have been

done in Montreal.

The rate of organ donation in

Atlantic Canada has nearly doubled since 2004 and is higher than that in much

of Western Canada. In

2004 there were 10 donations after brain death per million of population, and

in 2006 the figure was 18. Dr. Nashan wants to ensure Atlantic Canadians are rewarded for

their generosity through a fair sharing of donated organs across Canada. Livers donated by

patients after brain death are matched to waiting recipients according to

quality, age, blood type and urgency. So an organ

donated in Nova

Scotia

may be best suited to a recipient in another part of the country. Because the populations of British Columbia and Alberta are higher and the donation rate is lower than in this

region, organs have tended to go West. Last year Halifax’s multi-organ transplant program imported four livers

but exported six. In 2005, four were exported and only

one imported.

" At the end of the day,

you don’t want Atlantic Canadians paying their cousins in B.C. livers and

not getting anything back, " Dr. Nashan said. " (People) here have a high donation number because

they are very giving. In all fairness, they

shouldn’t be paying for that by having lower transplant numbers. " He has helped lead a push for a national

payback program that would ensure transplant programs would get an organ of the

same quality for each one exported. " In

order to implement it we needed better reporting at the national level, "

Dr. Nashan said.

Programs across Canada are collaborating on that goal. The

appropriate data are being collected for 2007 and a formal exchange program

should begin in 2008. It’s not just the quantity

of procedures done locally that pleases Dr. Nashan. The quality of care is high and getting ever better, he

said. Collecting and analyzing data is

vital to improving care, he said. The

program tracks a great deal of information about the patients who get

transplants and is building its own database.

Dr. Nashan

hopes to build closer ties with the teams around the region who care for patients

before transplant to provide even better, more timely

care. For instance, he imagined a

web-based system that would allow the transplant team and cardiologists in

Atlantic Canadian centres to share information about

patients as their conditions change to identify the best time to do a heart

transplant. " If you get these

patients earlier you can heal them better because you can take preventive

measures or you can transplant them earlier, " Dr. Nashan

said. " And that’s always a win-win

situation for the whole health-care system. At the

moment, it’s like you’re running a car that’s breaking down

and you’re not going to fix it until it really breaks down and then it

becomes very expensive. "

Barb in Texas - Together in the Fight, Whatever it Takes!

Son Ken (32) UC 91 - PSC 99 Listed 7/21 @ Baylor Dallas

[Guest guest]

hey Barb -

thanks for that article - I know things have really taken off there - mike

is followed at that centre -

you just find all kinds of great stuff to share with us.....

Patti

" be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of

battle "

>

>Reply-To:

>To: < >

>Subject: Halifax - Tx program taking root in region

>Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2007 08:33:48 -0500

>

>Transplant program taking root in region - Local organ operations,

>donors rise

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>The Halifax-based multi-organ transplant program continued to grow in

>2006 and is set to expand again this spring. Dr. Bjorn Nashan and his

>team did a record 34 liver transplants in 2006, more than were done in

>2001 when the liver transplant program at the Queen II Health

>Sciences Centre was shut down. Local liver transplants resumed in 2004.

>Eleven heart transplants and 101 kidney transplants were also done in

>Halifax last year. " We had a great year, " Dr. Nashan said in an

>interview. In April the program will begin doing combined

>kidney-pancreas transplants, which until now have been done in Montreal.

>The rate of organ donation in Atlantic Canada has nearly doubled since

>2004 and is higher than that in much of Western Canada. In 2004 there

>were 10 donations after brain death per million of population, and in

>2006 the figure was 18. Dr. Nashan wants to ensure Atlantic Canadians

>are rewarded for their generosity through a fair sharing of donated

>organs across Canada. Livers donated by patients after brain death are

>matched to waiting recipients according to quality, age, blood type and

>urgency. So an organ donated in Nova Scotia may be best suited to a

>recipient in another part of the country. Because the populations of

>British Columbia and Alberta are higher and the donation rate is lower

>than in this region, organs have tended to go West. Last year Halifax's

>multi-organ transplant program imported four livers but exported six. In

>2005, four were exported and only one imported.

> " At the end of the day, you don't want Atlantic Canadians paying their

>cousins in B.C. livers and not getting anything back, " Dr. Nashan said.

> " (People) here have a high donation number because they are very giving.

>In all fairness, they shouldn't be paying for that by having lower

>transplant numbers. " He has helped lead a push for a national payback

>program that would ensure transplant programs would get an organ of the

>same quality for each one exported. " In order to implement it we needed

>better reporting at the national level, " Dr. Nashan said.

>Programs across Canada are collaborating on that goal. The appropriate

>data are being collected for 2007 and a formal exchange program should

>begin in 2008. It's not just the quantity of procedures done locally

>that pleases Dr. Nashan. The quality of care is high and getting ever

>better, he said. Collecting and analyzing data is vital to improving

>care, he said. The program tracks a great deal of information about the

>patients who get transplants and is building its own database.

>Dr. Nashan hopes to build closer ties with the teams around the region

>who care for patients before transplant to provide even better, more

>timely care. For instance, he imagined a web-based system that would

>allow the transplant team and cardiologists in Atlantic Canadian centres

>to share information about patients as their conditions change to

>identify the best time to do a heart transplant. " If you get these

>patients earlier you can heal them better because you can take

>preventive measures or you can transplant them earlier, " Dr. Nashan

>said. " And that's always a win-win situation for the whole health-care

>system. At the moment, it's like you're running a car that's breaking

>down and you're not going to fix it until it really breaks down and then

>it becomes very expensive. "

>Barb in Texas - Together in the Fight, Whatever it Takes!

>Son Ken (32) UC 91 - PSC 99 Listed 7/21 @ Baylor Dallas

>

>

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