The brain is the only organ in the human body that cannot be transplanted. The brain cannot be transplanted because the brain's nerve tissue does not heal after transplantation.
Lungs are the most difficult organ to transplant because they are highly susceptible to infections in the late stages of the donor's life. They can sustain damage during the process of recovering them from the donor or collapse after surgeons begin to ventilate them after transplant.
“Where extracorporeal machines or transplantation can support or replace the function of organs such as the heart, lung, liver or kidney, the brain is the only organ that cannot be supported or replaced by medical technology.”
In heart transplants, the rate of organ rejection and patient mortality are the highest, even though the transplants are monitored by regular biopsies. Specifically, some 40% of heart recipients experience some type of severe rejection within one year of their transplant.
Cornea transplants are rarely rejected because the cornea has no blood supply. Also, transplants from one identical twin to another are almost never rejected.
There are three major types of allograft rejection: Hyperacute, acute, and chronic rejection.
Waiting lists
patients. As of 2022, the organ with the most patients waiting for transplants in the U.S. was kidneys, followed by livers.
Kidneys: Kidneys are the most needed and most commonly transplanted organ. Kidneys are responsible for filtering waste and excess water from the blood and balancing the body's fluids.
The liver is the only visceral organ to possess remarkable regenerative potential. In other words, the liver grows back. This regenerative potential is the reason why partial liver transplants are feasible.
The brain and nerve cells require a constant supply of oxygen and will die within a few minutes, once you stop breathing. The next to go will be the heart, followed by the liver, then the kidneys and pancreas, which can last for about an hour. Skin, tendons, heart valves and corneas will still be alive after a day.
Stomach. The stomach performs four main functions: mechanical digestion by contracting to smash up food, chemical digestion by releasing acid to help chemically break up food, and then absorption and secretion. The stomach is sometimes surgically removed as a result of cancer or trauma.
You can still have a fairly normal life without one of your lungs, a kidney, your spleen, appendix, gall bladder, adenoids, tonsils, plus some of your lymph nodes, the fibula bones from each leg and six of your ribs.
We must remember that the most delicate organ in the human body is the brain. Brain is one of the largest and most complex organs of the human body and is made up of more than 100 billion nerves. Brain controls speech, thought, memory, movement and helps in the functioning of many organs in the human body.
Of all the organs in the human body, the heart is without a doubt the hardest worker. Beating an average of 72 times per minute, it's responsible for pumping 2,000 gallons or more of blood through the body each day.
Tissues such as cornea, heart valves, skin, and bone can be donated in case of natural death but vital organs such as heart, liver, kidneys, intestines, lungs, and pancreas can be donated only in the case of 'brain death'.
While your heart is a vital organ, the brain (and the nervous system that attaches to the brain) make up the most critical organ system in the human body. The human nervous system is responsible for coordinating every movement and action your body makes.
There are currently around 1,750 Australians on the waitlist for an organ transplant. There are also more than 13,000 additional people on dialysis – some may need a kidney transplant.
The hospital or Tissue Bank will cover all medical expenses from the moment your family has given consent for the donation of organs / tissue. WOULD MY FAMILY RECEIVE COMPENSATION FOR DONATING MY ORGANS / TISSUE? No. Organ / tissue donation is a gift.
For example, thoracic organs like the heart and lungs, can only remain viable for transplant after being outside of the body for four to six hours, while the liver can function for up to 12 hours and kidneys up to 36 hours.
Acute rejection happens when your body's immune system treats the new organ like a foreign object and attacks it. We treat this by reducing your immune system's response with medication. Chronic rejection can become a long-term problem. Complex conditions can make rejection difficult to treat.
Rejection is your body's response to the transplanted kidney's foreign proteins. Rejection happens when your immune system, which protects your body from germs and foreign proteins, tries to fight your new kidney. Immunosuppressant medicines help keep your body from fighting your new kidney and rejecting it.
From a medical perspective, the act of returning an organ that has once been donated (hereafter, organ restitution) is not permissible if serious safety issues arise due to returning the organ. Accumulating cases have reported on the reuse of transplanted kidneys.