Organ Transplants

The replacement of a diseased organ by a healthy one is a medical dream that has become a reality for thousands. Once considered experimental and highly risky, human tissue and organ transplantation is today's successful therapy for disorders affecting the heart, liver, kidney, pancreas, eyes, ears, and bone marrow. Combining advanced techniques in surgery, immunology, infectious diseases, cardiology, nephrology, psychiatry, and nursing, organ transplantation is at the forefront of medical science. Despite the advances in transplantation, the literature available to a potential transplant recipient is scant. This book, written by members of the transplant team at the Massachusetts General Hospital in collaboration with a medical journalist, is expressly created for patients and their families, the lay public, and allied health personnel. The authors present a history of human organ transplantation, a review of transplant immunology and anti-rejection drugs, a survey of the national donor organ network, a characterization of the hospital transplant team, and the process of harvesting donor organs. They also discuss the realities of surgery and recovery, potential complications, and hints for transplant recipients and their families on how to cope with the stresses of illness, the wait for a donor organ, and the transplant operation itself. In providing a picture of what to expect from an organ transplant, the authors include case studies of patients' experiences before and following transplantation, and they depict how patients and their families interact with the hospital's medical team. A s a result, this book aims to offer a sympathetic and unsensationalized guide for the more than 20,000 patients each day who await an organ transplant - and for those who are intimately involved with the patient's successful recovery.