Organ Donation

What can be donated

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Organ and tissue donation can save and transform the lives of those Australians who receive a transplant.

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Organ and tissue donation involves removing organs and tissue from someone who has died (a donor) and transplanting them into someone who, in many cases, is very ill or dying (a recipient).

 

The decision to donate organs and tissue is an act of extraordinary generosity.

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Organs that can be transplanted include:

 

Heart

Some people with heart failure, viral infection or an inherited heart defect need a heart transplant to survive. Heart transplants are performed when all other forms of medical treatment have failed.

If the whole heart is not suitable for transplantation, heart valves can still be donated.

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Lung

Lung transplants are often needed by people whose lungs cannot provide enough oxygen to their bodies, such as people with cystic fibrosis or emphysema.

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Humans have two lungs. Both can be transplanted into one recipient or separated and transplanted as single lungs into two recipients.

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Many people believe that lungs from people who have smoked can't be donated. Clinicians will test how well the lungs work, and if they work well they may still be successfully transplanted.

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Liver

People with liver disease, hepatitis B or C and congenital liver defects such as biliary atresia might need a liver transplant to stay alive.

 

The liver is a unique organ because it can regrow. This means that an adult liver can be made smaller and transplanted into a child. It can then grow with the child. Alternatively, the liver can be divided and transplanted into two recipients.

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Kidney

People with severe kidney failure are put on dialysis. However, many of these people may need a kidney transplant. The two kidneys can be transplanted together into one recipient or they are separated and transplanted into two people.

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Pancreas

The majority of pancreas transplants are performed on people who have type 1 diabetes, which can also cause kidney failure. For this reason, the pancreas is often transplanted with a kidney from the same donor into the one recipient.

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Pancreas islet

There are times when it is not possible to transplant the pancreas as a whole organ. However, the insulin-producing islet cells of the pancreas can be transplanted separately as a treatment for diabetes.

 

Tissue that can be transplanted includes:

• heart valves and other heart tissue

• blood veins

• bone

• veins

• tendons

• ligaments

• skin

• parts of the eye

 

Heart tissue donation

Although the heart can be donated as a whole organ, heart tissue can also be donated separately. Donated heart tissue such as heart valves are mainly used to repair genetic defects in young children and babies. Heart tissue is also used to replace diseased valves in adults.

 

Bone donation

Donated bone tissue can be grafted to replace bone that has been lost because of cancer or through other disease or accidents. It is also used to:

• help heal fractures

• strengthen hip and knee joint replacements

• repair curvatures of the spine (scoliosis) in children and teenagers

• repair teeth and perform dental procedures.

 

You can also be a live femoral head donor if you are having a total hip replacement. The head of the femur is retrieved as part of a total hip replacement operation. Depending on the type of transplant required, more than 10 people may benefit from a single bone donation.

 

Skin donation

Skin grafts help people whose skin has been damaged by:

• infection

• severe burns

• other trauma.

 

When skin is donated, only a thin layer is taken. This layer is like the skin that peels in sunburn. It is usually taken from the person’s back and the back of their legs.

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Eye tissue donation

Eye tissue donation can allow the cornea and the sclera to be transplanted. Corneal transplants restore sight to people who are partially or completely blind due to corneal damage. The sclera is the white part that surrounds the eye. Scleral grafts prevent blindness due to injury or in people who have had cancer removed from their eye.

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The above information is courtesy of Donate Life. For further information, or to register to become a donor, visit www.donatelife.gov.au.