Tuesday, October 30, 2007

ORGAN TRANSPLANTS

Tissues (cornea, bone marrow, skin...) and organs (kidneys, heart, liver, lungs, pancreas...) can be transplanted. But it has to be analysed to know that the transplant will be compatible, making sure that a transplant rejection may not happen.

There are different types of transplants, like autograft, a transplant of tissue from one to oneself, sometimes it's done with tissue that can regenerate. Or xenograft, a transplant from one species to another. The most common transplant of human tissue and organ is allograft, transplantation of an organ or tissue from a genetically non-identical member of the same species.

The first successful kidney transplant was in 1954. And the first heart transplant was in 1967. There is an urgent need for tissues and organs for transplantation. There is a person added to the donor waiting list every 12 minutes and 16 people die each day waiting for an organ transplantation.

Skin tissue that can be transplanted.

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