SYNOPSIS

Since the 1950s organ donation has been available as a benevolent opportunity. The legal, ethical and moral framework has evolved since to establish its optimal conduct. Worldwide, efforts have been made to enhance organ donation rates by the establishment of organ procurement agencies. Donation after Brain Death and Circulatory Death are the 2 clinical contexts in which organ donation can occur. Although donation after brain death has traditionally been the most common pathway, donation after a circulatory death has increased considerably over the past decade. Paediatric organ donation represents a very small fraction of overall donation rates due to low mortality rates and specific nuances. Evolving technologies and the actual donation conversation are being explored as ways of expanding the donor pool. In this grand round the specifics of paediatric organ donation as well as some of the current measures being undertaken to expand the donor pool will be discussed.

SPEAKERS
Dr. Ben Gelbart is a Paediatric Intensive Care Specialist and Medical Donation Specialist at RCH for DonateLife Victoria. Ben will discuss the evolution of organ donation, worldwide paediatric practice and some paediatric specific aspects.

Dr. Rohit D’Costa will be Victorian Medical Director of Organ and Tissue Donation from July 2015 and is an Intensive Care Specialist at Royal Melbourne Hospital. Rohit will discuss current measures aimed at expanding the donor pool including family donation conversation training, DCD heart donation, and the research into extracorporeal organ evaluation.

Dr Neera Bhatia is a lecturer in Law at Deakin University, Melbourne with focuses on health law and bioethics. Neera will discuss the legal issues associated with DCD.