Organ procurement for transplantation.
For centuries, the medical community has known that human cadavers and human organs are invaluable to medical science for transplantations. On December 3, 1967, in Cape Town, South Africa, Dr. Christian Barnard revolutionized organ transplantation with the first successful human heart transplant. With it came the dawning of a new era--life for one preserved through the death of another. But with this advancement came great demands. Patients waited, hoping sometimes in vain, that a kidney transplant would end their long hours of suffering on dialysis, or that a heart transplant would prolong their otherwise shortened existence. Expectations grew, but the supply of organs did not. It became clear that the full and continued benefit of such medical advances depended on an increased supply of human organs for transplantation. This article focuses on the issues surrounding the procurement of human organs for transplantation. A brief history of transplantation and the benefits of transplantation are presented, as well as the present means of supplying organs for transplantation and how this supply could be enhanced by alternate procurement methods.
D002102:Cadaver; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005190:Family; D006801:Humans; D014019:Tissue Donors; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous / Q000191:economics*