If you’ve ever had a question on organ donation or transplantation, chances are you may find it here in these 10 FAQs on donations and transplantations.
1- When was the first successful organ transplant done?
On December 23, 1954, Dr. Joseph E. Murray performed the first successful solid organ transplant at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, MA. The kidney was given by Ronald Herrick and transplanted into his identical twin, Richard Herrick.
2- When was the first successful heart transplant?
In 1967, Dr. Christiaan Barnard, in South Africa, …read more

It goes without saying that there are several sites and blogs on the Internet about organ donation and organ transplantation. Here are some of the more interesting ones I found and a bit about them.
I am. Are you? is part of the Donate Life Illinois program. Aside from the interesting information, it also provides important need-to-know news, such as: “Illinois residents need to RE-REGISTER after Jan. 1, 2006 to join the state’s registry and ensure their wishes to be an organ/tissue donor are honored.”
Greatest Gift Blog is a companion blog to the Greatest Gift …read more

When most of us think of organ transplants, we usually think of the biggies, like the heart, the kidney, the liver – and that’s ok because it’s what we hear most about. But there’s a lesser known one that may not save a life, but it sure changes a whole life around: a cornea transplant.
When Tricia Carlisle-Northcutt, founder of Right Brain Strategies & PR , was 16 years old, she was diagnosed with an eye disorder called keratoconus . According to the National Keratoconus Foundation , “Keratoconus, often abbreviated to “KC”, is a non-inflammatory eye condition in which …read more

Transplants are something that happen to someone else. Dying is also something that happens to someone else. Having to make heart wrenching decisions about death, dying and transplantation happens in other families, to other people. Or do they?
But what if – just what if – someone you loved became ill and the only way to survive was to receive an organ from someone else? Would those transplants and deaths only be happening to someone else?
Over 100,000 people in the U.S. need an organ transplant.
More than half of these individuals will die before an organ becomes available.
In the time it will …read more

Need an organ transplant? All it takes is money and the willingness to take risks. Buying an organ, however, doesn’t guarantee a long, healthy life. I’d be afraid of any infectious diseases that may come from purchased organs but sometimes you have to choose the lesser of two evils. Here’s how much a heart would cost you in various countries around the world.

Colombia – $90,000
China – $130,000 – 160,000
South Africa – $290,000
South Korea – $290,000
Taiwan – $290,000
Singapore – $290,000

I wonder why the most common price is $290,000. Perhaps a body broker effect.
via Wired

You’d think it would be a bad idea to transplant a heart from a donor infected with hepatitis C. But apparently, it’s considered acceptable if the heart transplant recipient is older or already infected with the hepatitis C virus.
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that regardless of the recipient’s original health status, a heart transplant from a hepatitis C positive donor results in lower survival for the recipient.

16.9% of recipients of virus-tainted hearts died after one year as compared to 8.2% of those who received non-infected hearts
25% of hepatitis C-infected heart recipients …read more