title: Body image in transplant recipients and living organ donors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this article is to describe the current evidence regarding the prevalence and significance of concerns about body image in transplant recipients and organ donors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Body image and organ integration concerns have been reported as main themes in the psychological adaptation to transplantation. Their prevalence, severity, description and impact vary wildly. There is a lack of validated instruments to measure body image or organ integration in transplant patients. For organ recipients, satisfaction with body image depends on the organ, genre, pretransplant medical illness, time since transplantation and post-transplant medication regimen. Complete or partial denial of the graft is frequently reported. For organ donors, body image is influenced by the type of surgical incision. There is little evidence that body image or organ integration impact medical or psychological outcomes after transplantation or organ donation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Body image is becoming a significant component of measuring the quality of life in transplant patients. Body image may become a factor in decisions about if and when to pursue transplant for nonlife-threatening conditions (e.g. face transplantation), about the type of incision or about the immunosuppressant regimen. For mental health professionals, understanding the complexities of body image and organ integration will help enhance the assistance provided before and after transplant or donation.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors: Paula C
authors: PC
authors: Zimbrean
mesh_terms: D001828:Body Image; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D019520:Living Donors / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D066027:Transplant Recipients