Liver and kidneys donated to three Sardinian patients, the heart to a Lombard patient. It is the result of the act of generosity of the family of a forty-year-old originally from Ecuador, who died in recent days in the Giovanni Paolo II hospital in Olbia following an acute irreversible brain injury. A gesture that has given hope of life to four people who were on the waiting list for a transplant.
This is the first organ harvesting of 2024 carried out in Gallura and was performed through the Complex Structure of Anesthesia and Resuscitation directed by Dr. Roberto Passaro, in coordination with the Regional Transplant Center coordinated by Lorenzo D'Antonio. On this occasion, the activity was also able to count on the support of several doctors from the ASL Gallura: the Surgeon Dr. Daniele Bertulu assisted by the Surgery specialist Dr. Arianna Meloni and the Urologist Sergio Lacquaniti, belonging to the Department of Acute Pathology of Medium Intensity directed by Dr. Luigi Presenti, together with the surgical teams from the Transplant Centers of Cagliari and the Peninsula.
"Organ donation," explains Dr. Fabienne Fonnesu, Local Coordinator of the collections, "is a complex and articulated process managed by the Anesthesia and Resuscitation Unit, where unfortunately the brain death of a patient who has suffered an acute, irreversible brain lesion, of a traumatic, hemorrhagic, ischemic or infectious nature, occurs.".
At the end of the assessment, relatives are contacted and the Regional Transplant Center is notified "which verifies whether the person, during his or her lifetime, has indicated a desire to donate. In the event of a lack of expression, the family members with the right to decide whether to give consent to organ donation. If a desire to donate is verified", continues Dr. Fonnesu, "the donor is subjected to maintenance of organ functionality and to clinical, instrumental and serological tests to evaluate the suitability of the organs through the collaboration of the Radiology, Analysis Laboratory, Transfusion Center, UTIC, Internists performing liver biopsy and Pathological Anatomy of the Hospital. Once it has been established which organs are suitable, the donor is transferred to the Operating Block to carry out organ removal. Teamwork is fundamental but the most important role is certainly that of the family, which in a moment of despair for the loss of a loved one, giving consent as in this case to organ donation, offers patients on the waiting list hope and sometimes life-saving treatment".
(Online Union)
