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Summary
You may need an organ transplant if one of your organs has failed. This can happen because of illness or injury. When you have an organ transplant, doctors remove an organ from another person and place it in your body. The organ may come from a living donor or a donor who has died.
The organs that can be transplanted include:
You often have to wait a long time for an organ transplant. Doctors must match donors to recipients to reduce the risk of transplant rejection. Rejection happens when your immune system attacks the new organ. If you have a transplant, you must take drugs the rest of your life to help keep your body from rejecting the new organ.
Living With
- After the Transplant (United Network for Organ Sharing)
- Diet and Exercise (United Network for Organ Sharing)
- Post-transplant Medications (United Network for Organ Sharing)
- Preventing Rejection (United Network for Organ Sharing)
Related Issues
- How Organs Are Matched (United Network for Organ Sharing)
- Organ Transplant Patients and Fungal Infections (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Xenotransplantation (Food and Drug Administration)
Specifics
- Before the Transplant (United Network for Organ Sharing)
Statistics and Research
- Organ Donation and Transplantation Statistics (National Kidney Foundation)
- The SRTR/OPTN Annual Data Report (Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients)
- U.S. Transplantation Data (United Network for Organ Sharing)
Clinical Trials
-
ClinicalTrials.gov: Organ Transplantation
(National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Excellence in Organ Utilisation-A Quantitative and Qualitative Evidence Base for a...
- Article: European Society for Organ Transplantation Consensus Statement on Biomarkers in Liver...
- Article: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in Organ Transplantation: An ESOT Survey...
- Organ Transplantation -- see more articles
Reference Desk
- Organ Facts and Surgeries (United Network for Organ Sharing)
Find an Expert
-
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
- Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (Health Resources and Services Administration)
Children
- Organ Transplants: What Every Kid Needs to Know (United Network for Organ Sharing) - PDF
Older Adults
-
Organ Donation -- You're Never Too Old to Make a Difference
(National Institute on Aging)
Patient Handouts
-
Organ or Stem Cell Transplant and Your Mouth
(National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research) - PDF
- Transplant rejection (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Transplant services (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish