[Allo- and xeno-transplantation].
Organ transplantation is now effective therapies across a wide range of both fatal and non-fatal diseases. The excellent survival and success rates of organ transplantation have led to high levels of demand globally. The demand has outstripped the supply of organs from both deceased donors and from the altruistic living relatives of patients in need. Increasing use, over the past 10 years, of living donation of nonregenerative organs has extended from kidneys to livers, lungs and pancreas in some instances, despite the hope that reliance on living donors could be reduced. And, it is clear that ethically-unacceptable practices occur in a number of countries. The 1991 World Health Organization (WHO) Guiding Principles (GP) have influenced national legislation and professional codes but over the last 10 years many transplantation practices are no longer in line with the GP. The GP will be revised in 2008. While xenotransplantation offers a potential solution to the demand, 3 problems need to be overcome, i.e. inadequate physiological function, rejection of the graft, and the risk of transmitting a serious and/or novel infectious disease to the human recipient and wider public.
Shirakura
Ryota
R
Kinki Central Hospital, Itami, Japan.
D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016041:Heart-Lung Transplantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019520:Living Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016377:Organ Transplantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous