BMJ  2003;327:1294 (29 November), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7426.1294-a

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Living organ donation

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Two letters in this week's BMJ present conflicting views of living liver donation (p 1287). In arguing in favour of donation, Roger Williams says that there is an "unacceptable" wait for cadaver organs and that the UK transplant rate is already one of the lowest in the West. Wherever there's a shortage, as there is of organs for transplant, there is scope for online information campaigns.

The US based Coalition on Donation explains that kidneys are the most common organ donated by living donors, while other organs that can be donated include partial liver, lung, and pancreas (www.shareyourlife.org/become_livingdonor.html). The site lists the advantages to the recipient of living donation, the risks, and the lifelong considerations of being a donor.

The US Living Organ Donor Network (www.lodn.org) allows information regarding living kidney donors to be placed, for the first time, in a common database "so medical professionals . . . [Full text of this article]

BMJ tjackson@bmj.com

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