Organ System Of Organ Transplantation - 3687 Words

Every Person in the United States, Not Just Legal Citizens, Should Automatically Be Considered Organ Donors Unless Otherwise Specified Rough Draft UFID: 9169-9185 June 6, 2015 I. Background According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, organ transplantation is the process of surgically transferring a donated organ into a patient with end-stage organ failure (U.S Dept of health and human services website). End-stage organ failure can be attributed to a number of diseases. Diseases such as cardiomyopathy, diabetes, hypertension, polycystic kidney disease, as well as a number of others could potentially result in suffers of these diseases to require an organ transplant. Though sophisticated†¦show more content†¦With this in mind, in 1954, Dr. John Murray was able to perform the first successful kidney transplant using the kidney of one identical twin and transplanting it the other, who went on to live eight years after the surgery. Then, in 1967, Dr. Christian Barnard performed the first heart transplant. In this case, the recipient only lived eighteen days following the surgery. It must be stated that the demise of the patient was not attributed to the failure of the new heart. The patient’s death was found to be cause be the pneumonia that was contracted by the patient due to his immune system being suppressed by the anti-rejection drugs he had to take. While the first organ transplants started with kidneys and the heart, organs such as livers, today’s doctors can transplant lungs, pancreas, and intestines. In addition, bones, skin grafts, tissues such as the cornea, and even veins can now be transplanted in those that so desperately need them. As described in NIH News in Health, with medical advances being made everyday, researchers and doctors have now changed organ transplantation surgery from a risky procedure to one that can now be viewed as routine. For instance, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute cites that 88% of patients survive the first year post-heart transplant surgery and 78% of patients survive the first