Organ donation

Organ donation is the removal of specific tissues of the human body from a person who has recently died, or from a living donor, for the purpose of transplanting them into other persons.

Safety issues

Donated organs, blood, and tissues have the potential to spread disease. While donated blood is screened for a wide variety of pathogens, donated organs are usually screened only for the most common and dangerous pathogens, typically HIV, hepatitis, and syphilis. Organ screening is complicated by two factors. First, organs spoil quickly and must be transplanted within hours of being obtained. This limits the amount of time available for pathogen screening. Second, an organ donor is often an accident victim who has succumbed to traumatic injuries -- such a patient has a much higher likelihood of having received blood transfusions in an effort to save his life.

Related Topics:
Disease - HIV - Hepatitis - Syphilis

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Doctors have reported serious complications and death due to organ transplants from donors infected with herpes, West Nile Virus, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, and even (in one case) rabies. Infection from non-viral pathogens, including candida and the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi have also been reported.

Related Topics:
Herpes - West Nile Virus - Cytomegalovirus - Epstein-Barr virus - Rabies - Candida - Trypanosoma cruzi

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Currently there is a lot of interest in how certain transplants (including bone marrow, stem cell, and bowel) can cause so-called "adoptive transfer" of diseases thought to have a genetic basis (such as Crohn's disease and other autoimmune disorders). While adoptive transfer of genetic disease is clearly not a desirable outcome, the cases so far reported may offer significant insight into how genetic susceptibility leads to a phenotypic manifestation of the disease.

Related Topics:
Bone marrow - Stem cell - Bowel - Crohn's disease - Autoimmune disorder - Phenotypic

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