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April is National Donate Life Month, and it’s an important reminder to spread awareness about organ donation and transplantation.
Though awareness has grown in recent years, there’s still a significant gap between the number of people in need of organs and the number of organs available. Nearly 120,000 sick people are waiting for organs at any given moment, and about 22 people die each day waiting for an organ transplant.
Many of us try to do our part by choosing the organ donor designation when we renew our driver’s licenses. That type of donation, while critical, depends on the death of one person to save the life of another, and it doesn’t happen often enough to close the gap.
Donating part of an organ or tissue while you’re alive is called living donation. It can save the life of the person who receives the living donor organ as well as the next person on the waiting list who’ll get the cadaver organ not needed.
Among the organs and tissues that can be living donations are:
• Kidney – This is the most common donation from a living donor. Kidney donors need to be healthy, with no risk of kidney disease or other health issues that would increase the risk of kidney disease in the future.
• One lobe of the liver – For an adult-to-adult transplant, the donor gives about 40 to 60 percent of the liver, but smaller segments can be donated for pediatric recipients. The liver begins regenerating almost immediately.
• Part of a lung – Two donors can contribute partial lobes to a recipient who is too sick to endure the waiting list.
• Part of a pancreas – In rare cases, a donor can offer part of their pancreas to a recipient with type 1 diabetes. The pancreas does not regenerate, but most donors live normal lives with reduced function.
• Part of an intestine – Another rare case, intestine transplant can accompany liver transplant.
• Skin – Skin donation is often done after a tummy tuck and can help recipients in need of skin grafts.
• Bone – Living donors sometimes give after a knee or hip replacement surgery.
• Bone marrow or umbilical cord blood – These donations help treat blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma or other blood diseases like sickle cell anemia.
• Amnion – After a birth, the innermost layer of the placenta can be donated to treat wounds that won’t heal and sports-related injuries. Amnion can also be used in certain eye and dental procedures.
Living donation happens in three ways.
Directed donation is the most common type and occurs between relatives or close friends. Non-directed donation, also called altruistic donation, happens when a donor gives an organ or tissue without knowing the recipient.
Paired donation is done when a kidney donor and recipient are not a match. In these cases, organizations can intervene to find another donor/recipient pair and swap kidneys so both recipients receive a match.
Living donors must be between 18 and 65 and healthy with no history of diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease or kidney disease. Potential donors undergo a thorough physical and psychological evaluation.
The process can be rewarding, but there are risks that include the risks associated with major surgery, the financial impact of not being able to return to work immediately, and the chance that a transplant may not take.
Potential donors should ask as many questions as possible to make an informed decision, but many who have chosen to donate have been honored to improve the quality of life of another person.
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Dr. Alfred Casale, a cardiothoracic surgeon, is chief medical officer for surgical services for Geisinger and chair of the Geisinger Heart and Vascular Institute. Readers may write to him via ae@www.timesleader.com.