Document is current

Article History

Received: 30 October 2024

Accepted: 20 January 2025

First Online: 12 February 2025

Declarations

:

: The authors have declared that no conflict of interest exists.

: All procedures involving human participants were performed following the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee of the participating institutions and were performed per the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The reported clinical and research activities were consistent with the Principles of the Declaration of Istanbul, as outlined in the Declaration of Istanbul on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism.

: All procedures in this study were performed per the ethical standards of the Institutional Research Committee of the St. Marianna University School of Medicine (IRB No. 6137). This was a retrospective observational study without new interventions or invasive procedures and was performed according to the Ethical Guidelines for Medical and Health Research Involving Human Subjects established by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (Japan) and the Institutional Review Board of the St. Marianna University School of Medicine. The requirement for written informed consent was waived for all participants. An opt-out method was used to obtain consent for this study.