Everything you need to know about organ transplants:
Information concerning the living donors, medical advances and how to access from international locations
An Organ Transplant is a surgical procedure in which an organ or tissue that is diseased or terminally failing is replaced with a healthy one. This is only considered when no other treatment option is possible. The organ or tissue can come from a living or deceased donor. The goal of the procedure is to restore lost function and improve the patient’s survival and quality of life.
Who are organ donors?
Organ donors can be living or deceased.
Living donor
- The donor must be healthy.
- He or she can donate paired or divisible organs, such as kidneys, livers, lungs, the pancreas and intestines.
- The donor is usually a family member or close friend, making waiting times shorter.
Deceased donor
- Patient who is brain dead (patient who will never recover brain function) or has experienced cardiac death.
- All solid organs can be donated, and several organs can be obtained from a single donor.
- Usually longer waiting times, as it depends on a waiting list based on the transplant patient’s condition and immunological and blood group compatibility.
Transplants from living donors
Some experts claim that better results are obtained when the transplant is performed from a living donor. According to Dr. Jairo E. Rivera Baquero, vice president of the Colombian Association of Organ Transplantation and transplant surgeon at one of Latin America’s most prestigious transplant institutions, Fundación Cardioinfantil , this is due to factors that include:
➤ The ischemia time with living donors is shorter. (The period during which the supply of blood, oxygen and nutrients to an organ or tissue is interrupted or significantly reduced.)
➤ The evaluation of immunological compatibility and the relationship between the weight and height of the donor vs. the recipient can be more precise.
➤ The speed with which a compatible donor can be found. According to Dr. Rivera Baquero, the Cardioinfantil Foundation has had cases where they were able to carry out the entire transplant process, from evaluation to surgery, in just 8 hours for pediatric patients with acute liver failure.
In addition, transplantation with living donors is the best option for international patients, since many countries, such as Colombia, do not allow transplantation from deceased foreign patient donors.
However, it is important to note that transplantation with a living donor poses a risk to the donor and also generates a higher cost given its high technical complexity. “This higher cost is not an arbitrary decision made by the medical staff of health institutions. It is based on high technical complexity, which is why living donor programs are not so widespread around the world, but are limited to very specialized institutions,” says Dr. Rivera Baquero.
Which organs can be transplanted?
With living donors, paired or divisible organs are used, such as:
Kidney
Liver
Lungs
Pancreas
Intestines
To perform the procedure, one of the organs or part of it is removed. In the case of a liver transplant, for example, the organ is divided and the portion required for the transplant is selected. For children weighing less than 5 kg, a very small portion is needed, while for patients weighing more than 45 kg, about 60% of the donor’s liver is needed.
In this case, the donor organ has the ability to regenerate. Therefore, by maintaining a healthy lifestyle and following all medical recommendations, both the donor and the recipient have the potential to lead a completely normal and healthy life.
How can a patient become a candidate for an organ transplant?
Performing an organ transplant requires highly specialized medical personnel and very advanced technology to ensure the safety of both the donor and the recipient.
With VUMI®, you have access to many of the world’s top transplant hospitals, including the Fundación Cardioinfantil in Bogotá. Their achievements include:
➤ First heart autotransplant in Latin America, performed in 2017. In this procedure, the patient’s heart was removed to repair injuries or tumors and then reimplanted in the patient.
➤ Lung transplant program at an altitude of 2,600 meters (Bogotá’s altitude), which is considered a medical milestone.
➤ First Center of Excellence in Hepatocellular Carcinoma in the world.
➤ Transplants with living and deceased donors.
➤ Pediatric transplants.
➤ Four Joint Commission accreditations, recognizing both excellence and safety.
➤ Care for more than 30,000 patients annually, including performing highly complex procedures.
➤ Strategic location in the center of the continent, accessible to international patients.
➤ Access to the top international specialists and medical centers.
➤ Second Medical Opinion VIP® carried out by international experts.
➤ Organ transplants and benefits for living donor expenses.
➤ Pre-transplant care and evaluation.
➤ Post-transplant care, including medications used to ensure the viability and permanence of the transplanted organ.
➤ Emergency air and ground transportation.
➤ Medical coordination of your consultations and procedures.
➤ And much more!
