Organ transplant

An organ transplant is the transplantation of a whole or partial organ from one body to another, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or failing organ with a working one from the donor. Organ donors can be living, or deceased (previously referred to as cadaveric).

Special Types

Split Liver Transplants

Sometimes, a deceased-donor liver may be divided between two recipients, especially an adult and a child. This is uncommon as the outcomes are worse for both patients than had they received the whole organ.

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Domino Transplants

This operation is usually performed for cystic fibrosis as both lungs need to be replaced and it is a technically easier operation to replace the heart and lungs en bloc. As the recipient's native heart is usually healthy, this can then itself be transplanted into someone needing a heart transplant.

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That term is also used for a special form of liver transplant, in which the recipient suffers from familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy in which the liver (slowly) produces a protein that damages other organs; their liver can be transplanted into an older patient who is likely to die from other causes before a problem ariseshttp://www.mayoclinic.org/news2003-sct/1622.html.

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