Improving radiological screening in deceased organ donation

Abstract

In the last few years, the average age of deceased donors are increasing. Also they have more comorbidities, obesity, hypertension and diabetes. All these factors could influence organ quality and therefore the suitability for organ transplantation. Increasing age also comes together with an increasing incidence of cancer. Therefore the question raised if the radiological screening method used, chest radiograph and abdominal ultrasound, was still sufficient. This thesis focuses on the value of adding chest and abdominal CT scans to the donor screenings process, and evaluate the influence on the incidence procurement injury to organs, the effect of the CT-scan on organ acceptance and the detection of suspicious lesions before procurement.