CRITERIA IN THE SELECTION OF ORGAN TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS

The purpose of this article are to describe the criteria used to selec t organ transplant recipients, to highlight the similarities and diffe rences in these these criteria, and to review the findings that suppor t these criteria. Reports on criteria used in selecting heart, lung, l iver, pancreas, and kidney recipients were reviewed in addition to rep orts on proposed approaches to allocating scarce health care resources . The conclusions are that criteria used for organ transplant recipien t selection (other than medical criteria related to the diseased organ ) vary from setting to setting, organ to organ, and are modified over time. No universal system has been adopted to guide recipient selectio n.