Ethical considerations in the application of preconditioning to solid organ transplantation.
The shortage of organs for transplantation has led researchers to look for new techniques to expand the donor pool. Preconditioning strategies have the potential to protect organs from transplant associated injury or may improve the function of substandard organs so that they become suitable for transplantation. Translating this type of technology to the clinical setting raises ethical issues, particularly relating to the deceased donor. It is important that society has the opportunity to discuss the issues raised by implementation of preconditioning strategies before they are implemented rather than as a reaction to them.
McNally
S J
SJ
Tissue Injury and Repair Group, MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, Medical School (6 floor), University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK. sj.mcnally@ed.ac.uk
Harrison
E M
EM
Wigmore
S J
SJ
D026688:Bioethical Issues; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000941:ethics; D006801:Humans; D019520:Living Donors / Q000941:ethics; D018579:Patient Selection / Q000941:ethics; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000941:ethics; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000941:ethics* / Q000379:methods; D014180:Transplantation / Q000941:ethics* / Q000379:methods