Organ Transplantation




What is transplantation?

Transplantation is the act of surgically removing an organ from one person and placing it into another person. Transplantation occurs because the recipient's organ has failed or has been damaged through illness or injury.

Which organs can be transplanted?
The organs that can be transplanted are:
  • liver
  • kidney
  • pancreas
  • kidney/pancreas (can be transplanted at the same time)
  • heart
  • lung
  • heart/lung (can be transplanted at the same time)
  • intestine
How does the matching process work?

The matching process contains five steps:
  • An organ is donated. When the organ becomes available, the OPO managing the donor sends information to UNOS. The OPO procurement team reports medical and genetic information, including organ size, and condition, blood type and tissue type.
  • UNOS generates a list of potential recipients. The UNOS computer generates a list of potential transplant candidates who have medical and biologic profiles compatible with the donor. The computer ranks candidates by this biologic information, as well as clinical characteristics and time spent on the waiting list.
  • The transplant center is notified of an available organ. Organ placement specialists at the OPO or the UNOS Organ Center contact the centers whose patients appear on the local list.
  • The transplant team considers the organ for the patient. When the team is offered an organ, it bases its acceptance or refusal of the organ upon established medical criteria, organ condition, candidate condition, staff and patient availability and organ transportation. By policy, the transplant team has only one hour to make its decision.
  • The organ is accepted or declined. If the organ is not accepted, the OPO continues to offer it for patients at other centers until it is placed.
To understand how patients are matched on the national waiting list, it's helpful to think of the list as a "pool" of patients. Each time an organ becomes available, UNetsm searches the entire "pool" for the patients who are a match for the organ. A new list is made from those who match.

The patients on this new list are ranked in order of their level of match to that donor organ. The organ is offered to the transplant hospital where the first patient is listed. Other factors which may be considered are the patient's current medical status, geographical location, and time on the list. If the organ is refused for any reason, the transplant hospital of the next patient on the list is contacted. This process continues until a match is made.
Credit: National Institute of Health.
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