Atlanta Transplant Center To Study African-American Live Liver Donor Statistics
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, a "leading institution in organ transplantation," is beginning a study that will focus on the disparity between the number of African American and white live liver donors, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports. In particular, the study will focus on children receiving organ donations. According to statistics from Children's Healthcare facilities, 36% of pediatric patients who received liver transplants in the last four years were black, but only one out of 20 children who received a living donor liver transplant was black. The new study, called Project LEAP -- The Living Donor Education and Access Program -- and paid for by a $159,000 grant from a local foundation, will examine how African-Americans' participation rate in live liver donations affects that population's transplant waiting time and survival rate. Dr. Rene Romero, director of the liver transplant program for Children's Healthcare, said he expects preliminary findings from the study this June. Romero hypothesized that the number of African-American live liver donors is lower than that of white donors because "minority groups have a lower level of trust in the medical establishment." He added that African Americans are more likely than other groups to have diabetes and hypertension, making them less desirable donor candidates (Costello, Atlanta Business Chronicle, 4/26).
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