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Recipient
An individual who receives transplanted organs or tissues. Federal and State legislation requires hospitals to have in place written policies and protocols for referring potential organ and tissue donors and/or requesting donation from families of potential donors. Factors such as race, gender, and age income or celebrity status are not considered when determining who receives organs or tissues.
Recover
A term used to describe the process of recovering life-saving and life-enhancing organs and tissues for recipients on the waiting list. Donated organs are removed surgically; donation neither disfigures the body nor eliminates the possibility for an open casket funeral.
Registry
See New York
State Organ and Tissue Donor Registry
Rejection
(1) The body's attempt to destroy the transplanted organ; usually occurs in the first year after transplant. (2) Rejection occurs when the body tries to attack a transplanted organ because it reacts to the organ or tissue as a foreign object and produces antibodies to destroy it. Anti-rejection (immunosuppressive) drugs help prevent rejection.
Required Request
Hospitals must tell the families of suitable donors that their loved one's organs and tissues can be used for transplant. It is hoped that this law will increase the number of donated organs and tissues for transplantation by giving more people the opportunity to donate.
Routine Referral
Hospitals are required on or before each death to call the Organ
Procurement Organization (OPO) in order to determine suitability
for organ, eye and tissue donation. The OPO, in consultation
with the patient's attending physician or his or her designee,
will determine the suitability for donation. If the patient
is a candidate for anatomical donation, only personnel from
the OPO or a designated requestor from the hospital can request
donation from the next of kin. |
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Saphenous Vein
A blood vessel in the lower leg carrying blood toward the heart. The saphenous veins serve as the principal vessels running superficially (near the surface) up the leg.
Sclera
The white part of the eye.
Sclera Patches
These are used when the sclera (white part of the eye) has thinned or has been punctured. When the sclera breaks, vision is lost completely. A sclera patch restores the eye to its proper shape so that it may function normally.
Soft Tissues
Tissues that connect, support or surround other structures and organs of the body. These include muscle, fat, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, fibrous tissue, blood vessels, or other supporting tissues of the body.
Suitability Assessment
This is an evaluation, using existing information about a potential donor, to determine whether the donor meets specific qualifications for suitable transplantation. |
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Tendons
The transfer of organs and/or tissues to a recipient.
Thoracic Aorta
The thoracic aorta is a section of the aorta, the largest artery
in the body, within the chest. Specifically, the thoracic aorta
is that part of the aorta that starts after the arch of the
aorta and runs down to the diaphragm, the great muscle that
separates the chest from the abdomen. The thoracic aorta gives
off numerous branches that supply oxygenated blood to the chest
cage and the organs within the chest.
Tissue
Bank
An organization that provides or engages in one or more services
involving cells and/or tissue from living or deceased individuals
for human transplantation purposes. Click
here for details.
Tissue Recovery
Staff
Specially trained New York Organ Donor Network technicians that
perform tissue recovery under sterile conditions.
Tissues
Tissues available for transplantation include corneas, skin,
bone, heart valves, veins and tendons. Click
here for details.
Transplant
Center
A hospital that performs transplant surgery. Click
here for details.
Transplant
Coordinator
A nurse who helps facilitate transplantation with both donor
families and recipients. Engages in donor management with hospital
personnel. Coordinates the acquisition and placement of organs
and tissues.
Transplantation
A surgical procedure whereby life-saving and life-enhancing
organs and tissues are implanted into a living human recipient.
Click here
for details. |
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Uniform Anatomical Gift Act
A model set of laws, adopted by many states, regarding a person's
gift of his or her body parts after death. Legislation that
provides guidelines for the voluntary donation of organs and
tissues. The law outlines authorization for making this gift,
describes the manner in which it may be done, and prohibits
the sale of organs and tissues for profit. Click
here for details.
United Network for Organ Sharing
The transplant community is joined under a nationwide umbrella:
The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a nonprofit charitable
organization, administers and maintains the nation's organ transplant
waiting list under contract with the Health Resources and Services
Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Located in Richmond, Virginia, UNOS brings together, under that
contract and on behalf of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation
Network (OPTN), medical professionals, transplant recipients
and donor families to develop organ transplantation policy.
The U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN)
helps ensure the success and efficiency of the U.S. organ transplant
system. Click
here for more details. |
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