ABSTRACT
Organ transplantation is the medical procedure whereby living tissue from a human body is removed from that body and transferred to another part of that body or to another person. An example of transferring tissue from one part of the body to another is a skin graft. Where the transfer is from one person to another, the one supplying the tissue is the donor and the one receiving it is the recipient. The intention behind transplantation is to replace a tissue that is no longer able to fulfil its original function efficiently as a result of disease or injury, with one that will. Kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs, pancreas and bone marrow are the kinds of organs and tissues which may all now be transplanted, although there is no guarantee of success. Thus, whole organs like the heart, or cells as in bone marrow may be transplanted. Kidney transplants may be undertaken when both kidneys have ceased to function; this would be as an alternative to dialysis. Liver transplants are performed if there is liver failure, since there is no treatment like dialysis which can take over the liver’s function. Liver transplants are not usually performed when there is liver cancer, because the cancer tends to come back to affect the new liver. However, merely transplanting small parts of the liver have proved more successful, particularly for young children and babies. Heart transplants might be performed for people whose hearts are so diseased that they cannot lead a normal life. These people might have symptoms that might not be controllable by surgery or medicines, may well be home-bound and breathless even when at rest. Lung transplants are performed when the person is suffering from cystic fibrosis or emphysema. Such transplants are far less common, because there is a shortage of suitable organs. Usually only one lung needs to be transplanted to enable normality to be restored. If severe lung disease also affects the heart, lung transplantation might be combined with heart transplantation; this is called ‘heart-lung transplantation’. The success of transplants over the last two decades has been far more successful than could have been imagined and today, it is the shortage of organs that poses the major problem. This chapter has as its main focus a review of the law and ethics relating to the donation and transplantation of human organs in Britain; it also discusses some recent developments and national guidelines issued in the wake of these developments.
