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Many people are alive today and leading productive lives because medical science has become so skilled in transplanting some essential organs. Nonetheless, there is a shortage of donors, and many patients die while still on the waiting list.
Although most people support the idea of donation, misinformation and a lack of communication prevent donations from occurring. Organ donation is one of the most rigorously monitored medical procedures. Strict rules and regulations are put in place to make sure patients have a fair chance at receiving vital organs.
The Wait
How Many People Are Waiting?
More than 112,000 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant. Kidney and liver are the two most sought after organs according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). Currently, donated organs are distributed within local areas, then in several regions, then nationally.
How Are Organs Matched to a Transplant Candidate?
It is illegal for people to buy or sell organs in the United States. Organs are matched to transplant candidates by a complex point system devised by UNOS that considers blood type, time spent on a waiting list, medical urgency, and other factors. Transplant candidates are assigned a status starting with the most ill and moving down through other classifications.
The Transplant
Who Are the Transplant Recipients?
Candidates for organ transplant are carefully screened by their local doctors and often a transplant team before their names are submitted for transplant surgery. Many health plans ask organ transplant candidates if they are well enough to wait for their organ at a motel or hotel near a registered United States transplant center. Because this often involves temporary relocation, some health plans also pay the travel expenses of a family member.
"The sooner surgeons can get an organ inside a patient and the fresher the organ, the better the patient's chances are," says Bob Spieldennen, UNOS spokesman.
Since so many factors must be coordinated, many health plans assign a case worker to organ transplant candidates. Treatment often includes psychological and spiritual counseling for the entire family prior to the transplant, and then follow-up reminders about diet, exercise, lifestyle, and medicines after the surgery. Any organ transplant requires life-long doses of anti-rejection medicines that have a number of side effects.
"If there is any area of health and medicine where the consumer must really educate himself, it is with organ transplants," says Spieldennen.
Who Is on the Transplant Team?
A typical transplant team includes the surgeon, a specialty doctor, an infectious disease doctor, a social worker, pastoral care staff, a psychologist, a nurse transplant coordinator, and the health plan's case manager. When a health plan evaluates a candidate for transplant, they usually consider the patient's age and health, the support of family members, substance abuse, and other factors.
The Decision to Be a Donor
Often, families deny organ donation at the time of death because they think it is against their religion, or that their loved one will go to his grave "unwhole."
In reality, most organized religions support organ donation. They typically consider it a generous act that is the person's or the family's choice. Moreover, donated organs are removed surgically in a routine operation similar to gallbladder or appendix removal. Donation does not disfigure a loved one nor change the way he looks in a casket. Normal funeral arrangements are possible.
Nonetheless, many families will not agree to donation. Often, a person who, in life, wanted to donate has not left clear instructions for his next of kin. Even if he is carrying an organ donor card at the time of death, no tissues can be harvested unless a family member gives consent. Organ cards can be obtained at your local Registry of Motor Vehicles or downloaded from the Organ Donor.gov website.
If you would like to be an organ donor, talk to your family and friends about your decision. That way, if the time arrives, they will be clear on your wishes.
Q&A
Here is what potential donors often ask UNOS staff members:
Who can become a donor?
You should always consider yourself a potential organ donor. Your medical condition at the time of death will determine what organs and tissues can be donated.
What can I donate?
Both organs and tissue can be donated. Organs include the heart, kidneys, pancreas, lungs, liver, and intestines. Examples of tissue that you can donate include bone, skin, eyes, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, arteries, veins, and heart valves.
Will my decision to become an organ and tissue donor affect the quality of my medical care?
No. Organ and tissue recovery takes place only after all efforts to save your life have been exhausted and death has been legally declared. The doctors working to save your life are entirely separate from the medical team involved in recovering organs and tissues.
Does it cost anything to donate organs and tissues?
No. Donation costs nothing to the donor's family or estate.
Is there an age limit for donating organs?
No set age limit exists for organ donation. At the time of death, the potential donor's organs are evaluated to determine their suitability for donation. Therefore, people of any age wishing to become organ and tissue donors should complete a donor card and inform their family that they wish to donate.
What medical conditions exclude a person from donating organs?
Conditions like HIV and cancer exclude people from donating organs. Otherwise, the organs are evaluated at the time of death.
A Second Chance at Life
Organ recipients must closely monitor their health, diet, exercise, lifestyle, and medicines, but otherwise they live normal, active lives. Many recipients are so overjoyed about a second chance at life that they compete in the annual winter and summer World Transplant Games, a series of Olympic-style events for athletic people who have received a major organ.
- Reviewer: Brian Randall, MD
- Review Date: 12/2011 -
- Update Date: 12/16/2011 -