Current surgical challenges to an effective and practical use of thoracic organs for transplantation

A strategic document entitled Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020 was published in the United Kingdom (UK) by The National Health Service Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) with the aim to enable the UK to match world-class performance in organ donation and transplantation. Its goals were to: Increase the rate of deceased donors per million population, increase organ utilisation rate and hence Increase the rate of deceased donor transplant rate. The definition of organ utilisation according to the NHS BT is 'the action of making effective and practical use of organs from identified potential deceased donors'. This editorial reflects the surgical opinions as to the current challenges we face in the UKs thoracic organ transplantation and how organ utilisation may be improved by effective and practical use of organs.