Solid Organ Transplantation

Transplantation has become the therapeutic option of choice for most causes of liver or kidney failure; transplantation of the pancreas (with or without a concomitant kidney transplant) has become an acceptable option for the treatment of type I diabetes mellitus (with or without renal failure); transplantation of the lungs has been used successfully to treat emphysema and cystic fibrosis; and transplantation of the heart has become very effective in treating cardiomyopathy and other end-stage cardiac disorders. While these statements can be made with conviction today, and are based on factual evidence, they may well change tomorrow. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of organ transplantation has been that its course is always evolving. The standard of care for transplant recipients changes with each new discovery. Nowhere in medicine is the relationship between the basic science laboratory and the bedside more closely linked. Similarly, nowhere is the psychological make-up and social milieu in which the patient functions more closely associated with success than in organ transplantation. Transplantation is one of the first fields in health care to be closely monitored by the federal government and for which a shared database has been congressionally mandated. This is why transplantation is an exciting and interesting challenge to physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, and other involved personnel.