Portugal expands organ donation rules to include controlled cardiorespiratory arrest – Portugal Resident

Portugal will allow organs and tissues to be retrieved from intensive-care patients who die following controlled cardiorespiratory arrest, under new rules intended to increase the number of organs available for transplant.

The measure, published in government gazette Diário da República today, will take effect in 30 days.

Portugal will adopt the practice known as ‘controlled donation after circulatory death’, already used in countries including Spain, Australia, Canada, the United States and New Zealand.

The procedure applies to Maastricht Category III donors: patients with irreversible conditions who have not responded to intensive-care treatment and whose cardiorespiratory arrest occurs in controlled hospital circumstances.

According to RTP, an initial pilot phase lasting between six months and one year will involve São João Hospital in Porto, Santa Maria and São José hospitals in Lisbon, and Coimbra Local Health Unit.

The government order, signed by Secretary of State for Health Ana Povo, says the shortage of donated organs remains the principal obstacle limiting patients’ access to transplants in Portugal.

Demand is expected to increase further because of an ageing population, the growing prevalence of chronic illnesses and the widening range of conditions for which transplantation is recommended.

Specialists estimate that extending eligibility to controlled circulatory-death donors could provide between 50 and 100 additional donors each year.

Portugal conducted 948 organ transplants in 2025, up from 932 a year earlier, according to figures released by the Portuguese Institute of Blood and Transplantation, IPST.

The country recorded historic highs for heart and lung transplants, with 70 heart and 90 lung procedures. Doctors also performed 525 kidney, 246 liver and 17 pancreas transplants.

Portugal registered 370 deceased donors and 88 living donors during the year.

However, 232 organs were ultimately not transplanted after retrieval. The IPST cited reasons including visible abnormalities, cancers and the results of microscopic examinations or biopsies.

The new rules come as Portugal seeks to build on its record transplant figures while reducing the continuing gap between the number of patients requiring organs and the number available.

Source material: LUSA