biology

Transplantable organs and tissues

Transplantable organs and tissues is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Transplantable organs and tissues rather than just read about it. In short: Transplantable organs and tissues may refer to both organs and tissues that are relatively often transplanted (here "major organs and tissues"), as well as organs and tissues which are relatively seldom transplanted (here "non-major organs and tissues"). In addition to this it may also refer to possible-transplants which are still in the experimental stage.

Key takeaways

Transplantable organs and tissues belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Transplantable organs and tissues to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Transplantable organs and tissues from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Transplantable organs and tissues may refer to both organs and tissues that are relatively often transplanted (here "major organs and tissues"), as well as organs and tissues which are relatively seldom transplanted (here "non-major organs and tissues"). In addition to this it may also refer to possible-transplants which are still in the experimental stage.

Major organs, tissues or cells

Heart

Heart transplantation is performed on patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease. The most common procedure is to take a working heart from a recently deceased organ donor (allograft) and implant it into the patient. The patient's own heart may either be removed (orthotopic procedure) or, less commonly, left in to support the donor heart (heterotopic procedure). It is also possible to take a heart from another species (xenograft), or implant a man-made artificial one, although the outcome of these two procedures has been less successful in comparison to the far more commonly performed allografts.

Lung

While lung transplants carry certain associated risks, they can also extend life expectancy and enhance the quality of life for end-stage pulmonary patients. While the precise details of surgery will depend on the exact type of transplant, there are many steps which are common to all of these procedures. Prior to operating on the recipient, the transplant surgeon inspects the donor lung(s) for signs of damage or disease. If the lung or lungs are approved, then the recipient is connected to an IV line and various monitoring equipment, including pulse oximetry. The patient will be given general anesthesia, and a machine will breathe for them. It takes about one hour for the pre-operative preparation of the patient. A single lung transplant takes about four to eight hours, while a double lung transplant takes about six to twelve hours to complete. A history of prior chest surgery may complicate the procedure and require additional time.

Heart-lung

A heart-lung transplant is a procedure carried out to replace both heart and lungs in a single operation. Due to a shortage of suitable donors, it is a rare procedure; only about a hundred such transplants are performed each year in the United States. The patient is anesthetised. When the donor organs arrive, they are checked for fitness; if any organs show signs of damage, they are discarded and the operation cancelled. In order to avoid removal of recipient organs when donor organs are not viable, it is standard procedure that the patient is not operated on until the donor organs arrive and are judged suitable, despite the time delay this involves. Once suitable donor organs are present, the surgeon makes an incision starting above and finishing below the sternum, cutting all the way to the bone. The skin edges are retracted to expose the sternum. Using a bone saw, the sternum is cut down the middle. Rib spreaders are inserted in the cut, and spread the ribs to give access to the heart and lungs of the patient. The patient is connected to a heart-lung machine, which circulates and oxygenates blood. The surgeon removes the failing heart and lungs. Most surgeons endeavour to cut blood vessels as close as possible to the heart to leave room for trimming, especially if the donor heart is of a different size than the original organ. The donor heart and lungs are positioned and sewn into place. As the donor organs warm up to body temperature, the lungs begin to inflate. The heart may fibrillate at first - this occurs because the cardiac muscle fibres are not contracting synchronously. Internal paddles can be used to apply a small electric shock to the heart to restore proper rhythm. Once the donor organs are functioning normally, the heart-lung machine is withdrawn, and the chest is closed.

Kidney

Kidney transplantation is the organ transplant of a kidney in a patient with end-stage renal disease. Kidney transplantation is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantation depending on the source of the recipient organ. Living-donor renal transplants are further characterized as genetically related (living-related) or non-related (living-unrelated) transplants, depending on whether a biological relationship exists between the donor and recipient.

Liver

Liver transplantation is the replacement of a diseased liver with a healthy liver allograft. The most commonly used technique is orthotopic transplantation, in which the native liver is removed and the donor organ is placed in the same anatomic location as the original liver. Liver transplantation nowadays is a well accepted treatment option for end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure.

Pancreas

A pancreas transplant involves implanting a healthy pancreas (one that can produce insulin) into a person who has diabetes. Because the pancreas performs functions necessary in the digestion process, the recipient's native pancreas is left in place, and the donated pancreas attached in a different location. In the event of rejection of the new pancreas, the recipient could not survive without the native pancreas still in place. The healthy pancreas comes from a donor who has just died or it may be a partial pancreas from a living donor. Whole pancreas transplants from living donors are not possible, again because the pancreas is a necessary organ for digestion. At present, pancreas transplants are usually performed in persons with insulin-dependent diabetes who have severe complications.

Intestine

Currently, approximately half are pediatric recipients. The most common indications in adults are ischemia (22%), Crohn's disease (13%), trauma (12%), and desmoid tumor (10%); and in pediatrics, gastroschisis (21%), volvulus (18%), and necrotizing enterocolitis (12%). Higher graft and patient survival rates are seen at the more experienced transplant programs. Within the last few years, 1-year graft and patient survival at more experienced centers have reached 60% to 70% and 65% to 80%, respectively.

Cornea

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Transplantable organs and tissues

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Transplantable organs and tissues claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Transplantable organs and tissues before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Transplantable organs and tissues ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Transplantable organs and tissues

In research: Transplantable organs and tissues appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Transplantable organs and tissues in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Transplantable organs and tissues is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Transplantation medicine, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Transplantable organs and tissues outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Transplantable organs and tissues in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Transplantable organs and tissues means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Transplantable organs and tissues out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Transplantable organs and tissues in simple terms?

Why does Transplantable organs and tissues matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Transplantable organs and tissues?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Transplantable organs and tissues.