Increased Interest in Anatomical Donation as a Result of Positive Media Coverage

Abstract

A 99‐year old female anatomical donor at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in 2018 had an unusual anomaly: Situs inversus (SI) with levocardia [left‐facing heart]. Her SI and levocardia went mostly unnoted throughout her long life, despite several surgical interventions and five successful pregnancies. After consultation with Ms. Ostervoss (director of OHSU’s body donation program), and the donor family, a poster presentation highlighting this donor was prepared and shown at last year’s American Association of Anatomy meeting at Experimental Biology in Orlando, FL, in April 2019 (Walker and Hankin 2019). Additionally, a press release to coincide with the poster presentation was prepared at OHSU for local media consumption. The donor’s story was distributed by print, radio, and television, worldwide.The benefit to the OHSU BDP of publicizing this unusual case of SI can be best seen in Figure 1, which documents the number of consent forms registered with the BDP between 2014–2019. Between 2014 and 2018, annual preregistration vacillated between 350 and 400 individuals. However, after the widespread publication of the case of SI with levocardia in 2019, the number of preregistered donors surged to approximately 460 individuals, with the majority of additional registrations taking place after publication of the findings in widely viewed media sources. This is particularly apparent in Figure 2, where preregistration numbers are compared month to month between years 2017, 2018, and 2019. For example, in June, 21 persons (2017), and 29 persons (2018) preregistered to be anatomical donors. In June 2019, 48 individuals. The disparity continued in July, when 25 individuals preregistered in 2017, 34 in 2018, and 50 in 2019. The OHSU BDP undertakes other forms of ongoing outreach as well, though none were performed shortly before or after the SI press release in 2019.Health professionals have long known the benefits of anatomical donation. Transparency in body donation is important as well. In this case, nascent medical students saw unique, but not pathological, anatomical variation that will stick in their memories. The family of the donor, after being contacted by Ms. Ostervoss, received closure and a great sense of satisfaction that their loved one contributed to the education of medical students and the public as a whole. Living individuals with SI may also benefit from a future study about the causes of SI.