Introduction
Transplantation is the transfer of living cells, tissues, or organs from one person to another or from one part of the body to another.
The most common type of transplantation is a blood transfusion (see Section 14, Chapter 171), which is used to treat millions of people each year. Some organs or tissues can also be transplanted.
Tissues or organs come from a donor. A donor can be a living person or a person who has recently died. Tissues and organs from a living donor are preferable because transplantation is more likely to be successful. However, some organs, such as the heart, obviously cannot be taken from a living donor.
Stem cells (from bone marrow or blood) and kidneys are the tissues most often donated by a living donor. Usually, a kidney can be safely donated because the body has two kidneys and can function well with only one. Living donors can also donate a part of the liver or a lung. An organ from a living donor is transplanted within minutes of being removed.
After a person dies, organs deteriorate quickly. Consequently, organs from a donor who has died usually come from a person who was expected to die and who had previously agreed to donate organs. Permission for donation may be given by the person's closest family member. Often, such donors are otherwise healthy people who have been in a major accident, rather than those who die of a disorder. Sometimes one donor can provide several people with transplants. For example, one donor could provide two people with corneas, two with kidneys, one with a liver, two with lungs, and another with a heart. Some organs last only a few hours outside the body. Other organs, if kept cold, last up to several days.
In the United States, a national organization (United Network for Organ Sharing) matches donors and recipients for transplantation through the use of a computer database. The database includes all people who are on a waiting list for a transplant, along with their tissue type. When organs become available, that information is entered and a match is made. Thus, transplantation can be performed without delay. In many states, people can indicate the wish to donate organs when they register with the Department of Motor Vehicles. This wish is recorded on their driver's license. In the United States, being paid to donate an organ is illegal.
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