Thinking about undergoing a game-changing organ transplant or donating to a loved one?
Your new organ could come from a living donor.
Alternatively, it may come from a person who had arranged to donate their organs after death.
Whether youre on a waiting list or are considering donating, heres what you better know about organ transplants.
Meanwhile, a liver will function for five years or more in 75 percent of recipients.
After a heart transplant, the median survival rate of the organ is 12.5 years.
A transplanted pancreas keeps working for around 11 years when combined with a kidney transplant.
This is to exclude any potentially dangerous contamination.
Donors are screened rigorously and infections can be treated well, says Dr. Klassen.
Theres a risk-reward tradeoff, and its a relatively small risk, he adds.
Doctors may have full knowledge of an infection in the organ before its set to be transplanted.
TheNational Living Donor Assistance Programand othersimilar programsmay help cover some donation-related expenses.
Its illegal in most countries.
The researchers looked at Taiwan specifically, and compared citizens who received kidney and liver transplants domestically to overseas.
In 2020, only 8,906 Americans received a liver transplant, per theOPTN.
One of the leading causes of liver failure in the United States ishepatitis C, according to theCleveland Clinic.
This is because thehepatitis C viruscan continue to circulate in your blood throughout your body, including your liver.
But one past study found that one-third of dialysis patients surveyed said they didnt know about the transplant option.
As far as the patients recalled, that important kidney transplant discussion never happened.
