Terms and Topics - C

Cadaveric Donors—Also called non-living or deceased donors, are those who donate their organs or tissue after they have died.

Candidate—A patient who has been placed on the national waiting list for solid organ transplantation.

Cardiac Death—Occurs when a person's heart stops and cannot be resuscitated. Just like brain death, there is no recovery from cardiac death.

Cold Ischemia Time—The time an organ is without blood circulation and is kept cold—from the time the organ is removed from the donor to the time it is transplanted into the recipient. In surgery, the time between the chilling of a tissue, organ, or body part after its blood supply has been reduced or cut off and the time it is warmed by having its blood supply restored. This can occur while the organ is still in the body or after it is removed from the body if the organ is to be used for transplantation.

Connective Tissue—Forms the supportive and connective structures of the body, such as tendons, ligaments cartilage, bone and fascia (the silver colored covering of muscles). Connective tissue surrounds many organs.

Cornea—The transparent outer covering of the eye's iris and pupil. Corneas can be donated and transplanted to restore sight for people with damaged corneas.

Cross-Matching—A blood test performed before a transplant to find out if the specific donor organ to be transplanted is likely to be rejected by the prospective recipient. If the test is positive, the donor and recipient are "incompatible" and the transplant is unlikely to be performed with an organ from that donor.

Cyclosporine—A medicine that suppresses the body's immune response thereby preventing organ rejection.