Organformidling

Organformidling is the organized process for coordinating organ donation and transplantation. It encompasses identifying potential donors, obtaining consent, evaluating donor suitability, preserving viable organs, coordinating transport, and assigning organs to recipients. The aim is to maximize patient benefit while maintaining safety, transparency, and public trust.

Typically, a national or regional authority oversees organformidling, working with transplant centers, tissue-typing laboratories, and hospitals. A centralized system collects donor information, manages waiting lists, and communicates organ offers to appropriate centers. Decisions about allocation are guided by policy, medical criteria, and ethical guidelines.

Recipient matching involves clinical compatibility (blood type, tissue type, size), urgency, recipient prognosis, and time on the waiting list. Allocations may prioritize urgent cases or those with higher expected benefit, while striving for fairness and geographic equity. Living donor cases follow separate but integrated pathways.

Ethical and legal considerations focus on consent, autonomy, and confidentiality, as well as equity of access and avoidance of exploitation. National policies regulate data handling, donor family support, and the transparency of decision-making processes. Continuous quality assurance and outcome monitoring are standard.

Organformidling often relies on health informatics and registries, linking hospitals, laboratories, and transportation networks. International collaboration enables cross-border sharing in case of shortages or compatibility; networks such as Eurotransplant and Scandi-Transplant exemplify this approach. Ongoing challenges include organ shortages and regional disparities.