All you wanted to know about organ transplantation

There are several myths about organ transplantation that makes people sceptical. ‘City Express’ looks at some of these deterrents and provides all the factual information you need

Following the Swathi Krishna episode, the buzz over organ transplantation is palpable. If you are one among those who have even considered the idea of transplantation, here is some information that can come handy.

How to get registered to donate your organs after death

Either download or get a hard copy of the application form from the Society for Organ Retrieval and Transplantation’s website. Fill in the form and send it to the  organisation either by e-mail or by post.

You will be provided with a donor card either as an A4 size sheet or a small pocket-sized donor card. Preferably put this up in your house, so that your relatives and friends are informed about your choice. This step becomes important since it is your relatives who ultimately decide whether your organs are donated or not following death.

Except for eye donation, for all other organ donations after death, the donor needs to be brain dead. This is a situation where the brain is irretrievably dead but the heart will still function for a few more hours. If a situation like this occurs it is upto the relatives to either inform organisations concerned like SORT or the hospital authorities for organ donation. In the case of an eye transplantation one can inform the hospital concerned or the eye banks including that in Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Tony’s Eye Bank in Aluva, Little Flower Hospital in Angamaly and so on.

Once the consent is given, the organ donation can be completed within 8-10 hours. In the case of eye donation this can be done in a matter of 15 minutes and that too at home.

What deters donation even in the case of open-minded donors.

Resistance from  relatives 

In spite of regular registrations, the Society for Organ Retrieval and Transplantation has only had one case where the relatives of the registered donor actually came forward for donation after brain death. “In most cases, we never get to know when there is a brain death among the list of registered donors. Unless the relatives inform us, there is no way we will know. Moreover, even in those times when we come to know of brain death, unless we have the consent and cooperation of the relatives we will not be able to take the organs,” said SORT joint secretary Dr Vasant Shenoy.

Absence of proper mechanisms 

In neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu, every single case of brain death is informed to a body called the Mohan Foundation. Following which, the team quickly comes to the hospital and discusses organ donation with the relatives of the dead person.

In the case of consent, the organisation which partners with the government donates the organs to one recipient in the list according to set norms. In Kerala, most cases of brain deaths are not even marked as brain death. In fact hospitals are often reluctant to get into organ donations as it might involve unnecessary allegations about malpractices, say sources from the organ donation agencies.

Misconception about mutilation of the body 

There are often myths doing the rounds that once the organ transplantation is done the body will be wholly mutilated, thereby deterring the relatives from taking to donation.

 But in practice the surgery for organ translation is done like any other surgery on a living human being. In the case of an eye transplantation, the change is hardly perceptible.

 Misconception about danger to one’s life

“There is a perception that once you register your name for donation, someone would just hack you to death and take away your organs. This is a complete misconception, for the organs can be transplanted only in the case of brain death and brain death cannot be induced even by doctors. It is a condition that can happen only spontaneously,” said Prasad V G, liver transplantation coordinator, Amrita  Institute of Medical Sciences

Which organs and tissues can be donated and who are eligible...

Though there about 15 organs and tissues that can be transplanted, in Kerala due the unavailability of infrastructure and expertise, transplantation usually takes place only for the eyes, liver, kidney and in a few cases heart valves. Out of this liver and kidney can be transplanted from a living human being as well.

ONLY HEALTHY ORGANS

Even if the case is that of brain death, persons suffering from HIV or from Hepatitis B, C and E cannot donate their organs. A general criteria for organ donation is that the organs must be healthy. Also in the case of kidney transplantation persons aged above 65 are not advised to donate. In the case of liver and eye, age is not a bar.

TIME FACTOR

Moreover, once the organ is removed they need to be transplanted into the recipient body at the earliest.

In the case of heart transplantation, the organ must be transplanted within two hours after removal from the brain dead body.

In liver this is 6-8 hours while in the case of kidney it is 6 hours. In the case of eye transplantation, the organ must be given to the recipient within 4 hours. Eye banks can however store for longer periods.