You may need an organ transplant if one of your own organs has failed. This can happen because of illness or injury. When you have an organ transplant, doctors remove an organ from another person and place it in your body.
The organs that can be transplanted include
- Heart
- Intestine
- Kidney
- Liver
- Lung
- Pancreas
People who need an organ transplant often have to wait a long time for one. Doctors must match donors to recipients to reduce the risk of transplant rejection. This is when the recipient's body turns against the new organ, causing it to fail. People who have transplants must take drugs the rest of their lives to help keep their bodies from rejecting the new organ.
- Organ Transplantation: Questions and Answers(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.transplantliving.org/beforethetransplant/qa.aspx
- Transplant Living(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.transplantliving.org/
- Infant Heart Transplant Controversy Continues(08/13/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_68129.html
- Researchers Find Link between Organ Transplants, Cancer(07/16/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_67027.html
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Statement on the U. S. Transplant Games
(07/11/2008, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jul2008/niaid-11.htm
- ACL Reconstruction with Cadaver Tissue Risky in Younger Patients(07/10/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_66824.html
- Medications: Protecting Your Transplant(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.transplantliving.org/afterthetransplant/medications/protectingyourtransplant.aspx
- Selecting a Transplant Hospital(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.transplantliving.org/beforethetransplant/hospital/hospital.aspx
- After the Transplant(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.transplantliving.org/afterthetransplant/default.aspx
- Health Maintenance(American Society of Transplantation) - http://www.healthytransplant.com/index.php?q=health_maintenance
- Cornea Transplants: Restoring Sight with Donor Tissue(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/cornea-transplant/EY00004/METHOD=print
- Intestine and Multivisceral Transplants(Children's Hospital Boston) - http://www.childrenshospital.org/clinicalservices/Site2126/mainpageS2126P4.html
- About Organ Allocation(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.transplantliving.org/beforethetransplant/allocation/allocation.aspx
- Contacting Your Donor Family(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.transplantliving.org/afterthetransplant/stayinghealthy/contactdonorfamily.aspx
- Getting on the List(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.transplantliving.org/beforethetransplant/list/list.aspx
- Infection and Malignancy(American Society of Transplantation) - http://www.healthytransplant.com/index.php?q=infection_and_malignancy
- Keeping Human Tissue Transplants Safe(Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2005/305_tissue.html
- Organ Transplant Increases Risk of Skin Cancer(American Academy of Dermatology) - http://www.skincarephysicians.com/skincancernet/organ_transplant.html
- Organ Transplant Patients: Pet Safety Tips(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/bonemarrow_transplant.htm
- Financing a Transplant(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.transplantliving.org/beforethetransplant/finance/finance.aspx
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Organ Transplantation(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Organ+Transplantation%22
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Facing the hurdles of transplantation. Part 3 of a three-part... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18795454&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Recipients compete in the backyard of transplantation. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18795453&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Deceased pediatric donor kidneys: An underused resource. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18795452&tool=MedlinePlus
- Organ Transplantation -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=organ+transplantation[majr]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+english[la]+AND+(jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text+OR+patient+education+handout[pt])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- Organ Transplantation - http://vsearch.nlm.nih.gov/vivisimo/cgi-bin/query-meta?v:project=medlineplus&binning-state=group%3d%3dMedical%20Encyclopedia&query=Organ+Transplantation
- Transplant Glossary(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.transplantliving.org/Community/glossary.aspx
- U.S. and International Eye Banks(Eye Bank Association of America) - http://www.restoresight.org/eye_banks/eye_banks.htm
- United Network for Organ Sharing: Member Directory(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.unos.org/members/search.asp
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National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/
- United Network for Organ Sharing - http://www.unos.org/
- 25 Facts about Organ Donation and Transplantation(National Kidney Foundation) - http://www.kidney.org/news/newsroom/fs_new/25factsorgdon&trans.cfm
- National Transplant Statistics(Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients) - http://www.ustransplant.org/national_stats.aspx
- U.S. Transplantation Data(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.unos.org/data/default.asp?displayType=usData
- Organ Transplants: What Every Kid Needs to Know(United Network for Organ Sharing) - Links to PDF - http://www.transplantliving.org/ContentDocuments/Childrens_Brochure.pdf
- Pediatric Transplantation(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.transplantliving.org/Pediatric/Default.aspx
- Pregnancy After Transplant(United Network for Organ Sharing) - http://www.transplantliving.org/afterthetransplant/pregnancy/pregnancy.aspx
- Heart Transplantation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/hearttransplantation.html
- Kidney Transplantation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/kidneytransplantation.html
- Liver Transplantation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/livertransplantation.html
- Lung Transplantation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/lungtransplantation.html
- Organ Donation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/organdonation.html
- Pancreas Transplantation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/pancreastransplantation.html
- Transplantation and Donation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/transplantationanddonation.html