Penn study finds better survival rates for recipients of lungs from hospital-based donor care units compared to independent donor care units

A new study by Penn researchers examined the differences in lung transplant graft outcomes from organs recovered from the two types of deceased organ donor care facilities operating in the United States.

The research, published in JAMA Network Open, offers insights that could improve the organ donation and transplantation process for patients across the nation. 

Researchers analyzed lung donation rates and lung transplant survival outcomes from almost eleven thousand deceased donors who underwent organ recovery procedures between April 2017 and June 2022. The researchers hypothesized that lung transplant survival would not significantly differ between organs recovered from donors managed in these two types of units. However, the study showed that while independent donor centers generally saw higher donation rates, recipients of lungs from hospital-based DCUs had longer survival. 

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania release on Newswise