Modify Data Collection on VCA Living Donors

Modify Data Collection on Living VCA Donors

At a glance

What is current policy and why change it?

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) requires transplant hospitals to submit information about living organ donors through a living donor registration form and a living donor follow-up form to promote living donor and transplant recipient safety. This is not required for living Vascularized Composite Allograft (VCA) donors, including uterus donors. Because living donor uterus transplants are increasing, and other types of living VCA donation may begin, it is important to collect this information.

Modify Data Collection on VCA Living Donors

Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, Chair of the Vascularized Composite Allograft Transplantation Committee, reviews the policy proposal to Modify Data Collection on VCA Living Donors.

Terms you need to know

Vascularized Composite Allograft (VCA): Transplant of multiple structures, which may include connective tissue, skin, bone, muscles, blood vessels, and nerves. For example, face and hand transplants are two of the most well-known types of VCA transplants.
Living donor: A living individual from whom at least one organ is recovered for transplant.

Click here to search the OPTN glossary

What’s the proposal?

Require specific information after living VCA donation is complete on the living donor registration form
- Includes related health information about the donor, details about the surgery, and complications around the time of surgery
Require specific information at six months, one year, and two years after the living VCA donation on the living donor follow-up form
- Includes complications after surgery
Updates policy to reflect that data related to living VCA donation will be collected in the OPTN computer system, UNet

What’s the anticipated impact of this change?

What it’s expected to do
- Collect data for all living donors
- Assess patient safety for VCA donors and recipients
- Make sure that living VCA donors have regular checkups after donation
- Require same forms that are used for all other living donors
What it won’t do
- Change information that is currently required for living organ donors other than VCA

Themes to consider

Safety of living VCA donors
Safety of recipients of living VCA donor organs

Related Proposals

This proposal is related to two other proposals that have been released for public comment this cycle. These three proposals are summarized below.

Related proposal	Description
Modify Living Donation Policy to Include Living VCA Donors Sponsor: Living Donor Committee	New policy requirements for living VCA donors
Modify Data Collection on VCA Living Donors Sponsor: VCA Transplantation Committee	New data collection for living VCA donors Data collection will be managed in UNet
Programming VCA Allocation in UNet Sponsor: VCA Transplantation Committee	Updates policy to reflect that VCA from deceased donors will be managed in UNet

Another proposal sponsored by the VCA Transplantation Committee, Update to VCA Transplant Outcomes Data Collection, was approved by the Board of Directors in June 2020 and modifies data collection for VCA transplant recipients. Updates to VCA transplant program membership requirements and the list of covered body parts pertaining to VCA were previously approved by the OPTN Board and are also pending implementation. A summary of these changes is available in a combined policy notice.

All of these proposals will be implemented together with a target completion date of June 2022 for the full body of work.

Comments

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