Main description:

This book is validated by experts, this insightful introduction to transplantation should prove a valuable resource not only for those personally involved - as patients, families or friends - but also for junior medical and nursing staff and others in training. It charts the history of transplantation from its perilous beginnings through to the present day, when replacement of failing organs is commonplace. It tackles also the problem of organ supply and the sensitive issues surrounding organ donation. A continuing dilemma is that, while most people are wholeheartedly in favour of transplantation, there remains a constant shortage of organ donors. The book clarifies the distinction between the two types of cadaver donors: patients suffering brainstem death or those in irreversible cardiac arrest (whose organs must be taken within minutes of death). Increasingly, too, living donors are coming forward to save the lives of relatives or friends. The book traces the recipient experience as it unfolds from pre-op investigations through to the operating theatre and the months and years beyond.
The author also explores the search for alternatives to transplantation - now increasingly urgent in light of the organ shortfall.