How long do patients have to wait for a donated organ or tissue?
There is no set amount of time, and there is no way to know how long a patient must wait to receive a donor organ or tissue. Factors that affect waiting times are patient medical status, the availability of donors in the local area and the level of match between the donor and the recipient. Organs and tissues are usually first made available to the sickest patients in the region where the organ or tissue was donated. If there is no medical match in that area, then the organ or tissue is offered to patients in a broader geographic area.
