Organ Transplant List Tops 75,000

The waiting list for organ transplants has surpassed 75,000 for the first time, a benchmark that officials marked with a plea for more donations.

The list has been steadily growing for years as techniques improved, more hospitals began programs and more doctors recommended transplants for their patients.

At the end of 1990, 20,481 people were on the waiting list. Last weekend, the list hit 75,069, the United Network for Organ Sharing said Friday.

The waiting list has grown by at least 10 percent each year since 1990.

"In a way, we've become victim of our own success," network president Patricia Adams said. "With the success and acceptance of organ transplantation, it has become routine therapy for many diseases. We have the know-how to save tens of thousands of lives. What we don't have is enough donated organs to make it possible."

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has said he will develop a plan to help boost donations by this spring. And the House passed legislation this week to encourage living and cadaveric organ donation.

In the 1990s, the number of patients waiting grew five times as fast as the number of transplant operations. The number of deaths on the waiting list has tripled, from 1,958 in 1990 to 6,125 in 1999.

Most people who are on the waiting list today are likely to remain there for some time.

At the start of 2000, there were 65,965 patients waiting. By the end of the year, two-thirds were still waiting. Nearly 20 percent had received transplants, just over 5 percent had died and 8 percent had been removed from list for some other reason, such as an improved condition.

Of those now on the waiting list, 48,162 are waiting for a kidney; 17,207 for a liver; 4,236 for a heart; 3,736 for a lung; 2,456 for both a kidney and pancreas; 1,061 for a pancreas; 214 for a heart-lung; 186 for a pancreas-islet cell, and 157 for an intestine. Some of those on the list are waiting for more than one organ.