Chapter 6: FAQ Of Organ Transplants

1.      What organs can be transplanted?

Organs that can be transplanted include heart, lung, liver, kidneys, pancreas, intestine, and thymus. Tissues that can be transplanted include bones, tendons, cornea,nerves, veins, skin, and.heart valves,  and veins.

2.      What are the most commonly transplanted organs, worldwide?

 Kidneys are the most commonly carried out transplant organ, then the liver comes after and then the heart [1].

3.      Are transplants successful?

Yes, transplants have very high success rates with an average rate of 80-90 %, the success depends upon the type of organ and the type of donor.  97% of kidneys in living donor transplants are still functioning well (Based on adult transplant recipients, 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2012) [2].

4.      Are there age limits for organ donors?

No. as long the physical condition of the donor is fine, then there is no problem since newborns and seniors can be donors. [5]. 

5.      Why does the rejection of organ occur?

The rejection of the organ occurs because of the immune response against transplanted organs leading to organ failure [4].  

6.      What can occur to the patient in the case organ rejection?

The transplanted organ must be removed immediately if the body rejects the transplanted organ. Otherwise the body will destroy the transplanted organ. Followed by fever, flu, pain & uneasiness [8].

7.      What are the new technologies used in organ transplant?

After the introduction of xenotransplantation, artificial organ transplantation has become more popular. Artificial Organs are now being made by organ printing, which is a 3D technique.

8.      What is stem cell therapy?

Stem cell therapy is a therapy used to replace damaged /diseased cells by healthy functioning ones. This technique is relatively new but they have wide applications in medical [3].

9.      What are stem cells?

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that are present in everyone throughout their life. They have the ability to become any of the specialized cell types in our body. Stem cell exists in blood, all organs and tissue, and in bone marrow.

10.      What are the Challenges of Stem Cell Therapy?

There are many challenges in using this therapy but a major difficulty with stem cell therapy is to identify stem cells within an actual tissue culture. Because cultures contain many different types of cells and it is a challenge to identify specific cell types.

 11.      Are there organizations who can help patients afford the cost of transplantation?

Yes there are many national & international organizations that can help patients in affording the cost of transplantation [7]. Few have been listed down:

·         Private Health Insurance

·         COBRA Extended Employer Group Coverage

·         Health Insurance Marketplace

·         Medicare

·         Medicare Prescription Drug Plans

·         MediGap Plans

·         State Health Insurance Assistance Programs

12.      What is the political standing in regard to organ transplant?

There are also controversial issues regarding how organs are allocated to recipients. However, Donation rates can be increased if there is adequate funding available, strong political will to see transplant outcomes improve, and the development of specialized training & care facilities helps in increasing the donation rates [7].

13.      What is the religious stand for some religions?

Organ donation is not prohibited in major religions such as Roman Catholicism,most branches of Judaism, Islam,  and most Protestant faiths. 

References

1.      WHO Guiding Principles on human cell, tissue and organ transplantation, Annexed to World Health Organization, 2008

2.      http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/about_transplants/success_rates/

3.      http://www.explorestemcells.co.uk/overviewstemcelltherapy.html

4.      Frohn C, Fricke L, Puchta JC, Kirchner H (February 2001). "The effect of HLA-C matching on acute renal transplant rejection". Nephrol. Dial. Transplant. 16 (2): 355–60.doi:10.1093/ndt/16.2.355. PMID 1115841

5.      http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/consumer-health/in-depth/organ-donation/art-20047529

6.      http://www.transplantliving.org/community/patient-resources

7.      Bird, Shiela M.; Harris, John (2010). "Time to move to presumed consent for organ donation". Analysis. BMJ 340: c2188. doi:10.1136/bmj.c2188. PMID 20442244

8.      http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000815.htm