Lazzeri C, Maielli M, Gelli F, Feltrin G, Peris A. Quality metrics in solid organ donation: A narrative review. World J Transplant 2025; 15(4): 109694 [DOI: 10.5500/wjt.v15.i4.109694]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Chiara Lazzeri, MD, Chief Physician, Senior Researcher, Department of Emergency, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Center, Regional Transplant Center, Largo Brambilla 3, Florence 50134, Italy. lazzeri.ch@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Transplantation
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Dec 18, 2025 (publication date) through Nov 18, 2025
Times Cited of This Article
Times Cited (0)
Journal Information of This Article
Publication Name
World Journal of Transplantation
ISSN
2220-3230
Publisher of This Article
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
Share the Article
Lazzeri C, Maielli M, Gelli F, Feltrin G, Peris A. Quality metrics in solid organ donation: A narrative review. World J Transplant 2025; 15(4): 109694 [DOI: 10.5500/wjt.v15.i4.109694]
Giuseppe Feltrin, Centro Nazionale Trapianti, Istituto Superiore Sanità, Roma 00161, Tuscany, Italy
Adriano Peris, Department of Emergency, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Center, Florence 50134, Italy
Author contributions: Lazzeri C and Feltrin G contributed to study design; Maielli M and Gelli F contributed to data analysis; Lazzeri C, Feltrin G, and Peris A contributed to wrote draft paper; Lazzeri C, Maielli M, Gelli F, Feltrin G, and Peris A contributed to revised the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to disclose.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Chiara Lazzeri, MD, Chief Physician, Senior Researcher, Department of Emergency, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Center, Regional Transplant Center, Largo Brambilla 3, Florence 50134, Italy. lazzeri.ch@gmail.com
Received: May 19, 2025 Revised: June 2, 2025 Accepted: September 23, 2025 Published online: December 18, 2025 Processing time: 184 Days and 2.9 Hours
Abstract
Evidence is not homogeneous on indicators able to monitor and assess quality performance for organ donation. This may be related to differences in healthcare organizations among countries but also to the scarcity of data on this topic so far. In the present review, we assessed available evidence on quality metrics in solid organ procurement in the United States and in Europe by means of a PubMed search. Evidence was summarized according to countries, considering that the donation and transplantation systems differ from country to country. In United States, the assessment of these indicators is periodically performed by the national network for organ sharing to evaluate the performance of each Organ Procurement Organization (OPO). Quality metrics consider several factors, in primis population characteristics (i.e. race/ethnicity, age, socio-economic status). That is why the assessment of each OPO performance relies on several quality metrics, not only one single indicator. In Europe, quality improvement programs represent a structural element of organ and transplant system in several countries, but few papers have to date addressed the results obtained by a quality improvement program based on indicators. In Poland, the use of quality indicators and improvement procedures were associated with better results in those hospitals which implemented these programs in respect to hospitals who did not. In Tuscany Region (Italy) the implementation of a monitoring and reporting approach based on indicators by the Regional Transplant Center was associated with an increased in transplant and donation activity (especially in cDCD donors). According to available evidence, the development of a method for quality assessment and quality improvement has been recognized as pivotal for donation and transplant authorities to identify key interventions either at national and/or hospital levels.
Core Tip: Organ donation and transplantation systems are known as complex health care systems since they involved several professionals often in time-dependent processes. The development of a method for quality assessment and quality improvement has been recognized as pivotal for donation and transplant authorities to identify key interventions either at national and/or hospital levels.
