The OPTN waiting list, 1988-2002.

1. Additions to the OPTN waiting list decreased in 2002 for all organs except kidney and pancreas islets. 2. On November 30, 2003, there were 89,361 registrations on the combined UNOS waiting list. Of these, 67% were awaiting kidney transplantation, and 20% were awaiting liver transplantation. 3. The majority of patients on the UNOS waiting list on October 31, 2000 were of blood type O (52%), White (51%) and male (57%), and awaiting their first transplant (87%). 4. Despite lengthy waiting times, the percentage transplanted within one year following listing has increased over the past 2 years for all organs except kidney. A tremendous increase in the percentage of liver candidates transplanted within one year was observed in 2002. 5. Blood type and medical urgency have a significant impact upon the percent transplanted within one year of listing for most organ types. Patients awaiting heart, liver, pancreas, and intestinal transplants experience the highest probability of receiving a transplant within one year. 6. Death rates per patients waiting at risk have declined since 1988 for most patients awaiting life-saving organs and have remained relatively low for those awaiting a kidney, pancreas, or kidney-pancreas transplant.