Development of Cardiac Transplant Policy in Germany

Introduction

On December 1, 1999, the two-year interval was completed, within which guidelines for specification of the German transplant law ended. While we have previously described consensus processes within the organ committee of the German Transplantation Society leading to a concept of cardiac transplant center structure [1], a transparent transplant waiting list and allocation guidelines, we will comment on the finalized status of the current cardiac transplantation guidelines and future perspectives based on our work in the Heart Committee between 1996 and 1999 in the second part of the editorial.

References

• 1 Deng M C, DeMeester J, Scheld H H. Development of cardiac transplant policy in Germany (editorial part 1).  Thorac Cardiovasc Surgeon.. 1999;  47 1-4
• 2 Richtlinien zur Organtransplantation gemaess Paragraph 16 Transplantationsgesetz. Dt Aerztebl. 2000 97: B-352-67