What is a transplant?
In a transplant, the surgeon transplants individual cells, tissues, organs or even entire body parts. According to the origin of these transplants, physicians distinguish between different types of transplantation:
- Autologous transplantation: The donor is also the recipient. This can be the case, for example, with extensive burn injuries – the burn wounds are covered with a large piece of skin taken from elsewhere in the body.
- Xenogenic transplantation: Here, the patient receives the transplant of an animal (for example, the heart valve of a pig).
Transplantable organs and tissues
The first transplant that was permanently successful was performed by American surgeons in Boston in 1954. At that time, the recipient received a kidney from his twin brother. Today, the following organs or tissues can basically be transplanted:
- Heart
- Lung
- Liver
- Kidney
- Small intestine
- Pancreas or its cells
- Bone marrow cells
- Ossicles
- skin, tendon, bone and cartilage cells
- Extremities
In the meantime, the first child has already been born after a uterus transplant. Some unintentionally childless women are thus given a new opportunity to fulfill their desire to have children.
Hair transplantation is used, for example, for burns.
When is a transplant performed?
- complete loss of kidney function
- heart muscle weakness (cardiac insufficiency)
- Liver cirrhosis
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- severe burns or injuries to the skin and extremities
- severe forms of diabetes mellitus treated with insulin
- blood cancer (leukemia)
- recovery after cancer of the skin
What do you do in case of transplantation?
Postmortem organ donation
In order for a patient to be allocated an organ, his or her attending physician must place him or her on a waiting list, which assigns a certain rank according to urgency and likelihood of success. In Europe, several organizations arrange post-mortem donations, for example Eurotransplant, which is also responsible for Germany.
If these conditions are met, the doctors remove the donor organ (explantation). To prevent damage to the organ, which is no longer perfused, it is stored in a cool box and transported as quickly as possible to the transplant center, where the recipient is already being prepared for the procedure.
Living donation
Further information: Skin transplantation
When to perform a skin graft and what to consider, read the article Skin Grafting.
Further information: Heart transplantation
When to perform a heart transplantation and what to consider, read the article Heart Transplantation.
Further information: Corneal transplantation
Further information: Liver transplantation
You can read about when to have a liver transplant and what to consider in the article Liver Transplantation.
Further information: Lung transplantation
When to perform a lung transplant and what to consider, read the article Lung Transplantation.
Further information: Kidney transplantation
What are the risks of transplantation?
Depending on the type and extent of the operation, a transplant can involve considerable risks. For example, there is a high risk of bleeding or post-operative bleeding, since the surgeons also separate large blood vessels during the transplantation and sew them together again. The risk of infection is also increased.
Many patients also suffer from psychological problems after a transplant – such as feelings of guilt towards the dead donor or towards patients who have to continue waiting for an organ.
