How to be an organ donor? – 08/29/2023 – Balance and Health

To become an organ donor, it is not necessary to leave a ready declaration or documents authorizing the procedure. This is because, according to current Brazilian legislation, the decision rests with the family of the person who has brain death.

The original text of the Transplant Law, from 1997, provided for the presumed donation of organs, that is, the person would be a potential donor unless the opposite was expressed in the identity or driver’s license.

However, in 2001, a provisional measure changed the device to provide authorization from relatives, as stated in the current wording. The spouse or a relative of legal age may authorize the removal of organs and body parts from deceased persons for transplants, obeying the line of succession up to the second degree, signed in a document signed by two witnesses present at the verification of the death.

Thus, according to ABTO (Brazilian Association of Organ Transplantation), those who want to authorize the donation of their organs need not worry about registering the wish in a will, for example. There is also no register of organ donors.

Some associations provide donor cards, which also have no legal value. However, expressing your will in some way about the donation can facilitate the family’s decision.

Brain death is defined by the absence of all neurological functions, which is permanent, irreversible and is only attested in hospitalized patients who are breathing with the help of devices.

With the impact of the case of presenter Faustão, who underwent a heart transplant last Sunday (27), the legislation is once again the subject of debates and proposals. One of them, by deputies Marangoni (União-SP) and Maurício Carvalho (União-RO), foresees the return of the presumed donation in order to reduce the waiting list for the procedure.

According to the Panel, the text says that anyone who does not want to donate organs must register this will in a public identity document. Otherwise, consent to the donation would be presumed.

Also according to the bill, if this document does not exist or the potential donor is under 16 years old or has an intellectual disability, the decision on whether or not to donate would be up to the family.

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Understand how organ donation works

1. Can everyone donate organs?

Not everyone can be a donor. According to ABTO, most patients diagnosed with malignant tumors, severe acute infectious disease or some infectious-contagious diseases cannot donate organs. There are also other conditions that prevent organ donation, and the decision is made by the teams responsible for the transplant.

2. How many lives can each donor save?

The donor who has been diagnosed with brain death can save more than eight lives and has the ability to donate heart, lung, liver, kidneys, pancreas, corneas, intestines, skin, bones and heart valves. In life, the donor can donate a kidney, bone marrow, part of the liver (around 70%) and part of the lung, in exceptional situations.

3. What happens after authorization of the donation and organs?

After authorization from the family (or from the patient, if they are donating while they are still alive), blood will be collected and antibodies will be analyzed for HIV, hepatitis B and C, HTLV, syphilis, Chagas disease, cytomegalovirus and toxoplasmosis.

General evaluation tests will also be carried out, mainly of the liver and kidneys. After evaluation, the donor is referred to the organ removal surgery.

4. How is the dead patient’s body after the donation?

After the initial preparation for the surgery, the body is reconstituted, a procedure provided for by law. Thus, the body remains as before the procedure, with the exception of a scar on the abdomen. Therefore, there is no need for any special burial, and the donor can be veiled normally.

5. How does organ transport work?

According to ABTO, it is the time of ischemia that determines the means of transport that will be used — the medical term refers to the time that an organ lasts after being removed from a body.

In addition, transport must be carried out in a thermal box that maintains temperatures between 2°C and 8°C.

6. Are there any risks for patients receiving an organ transplant?

Yes. Among them are infections, like those that can happen to any patient who has undergone surgery. There is also the possibility of abnormal infections, which often affect patients with weakened immune systems.

However, to avoid this type of infection, most transplant patients are usually medicated after the transplant. Also according to ABTO, the risk of infection returns to the level prior to the transplant in about 80% of individuals after six months.