Living Organ Donors Needed

October 1, 1999
Living Organ Donors Needed
As transplant waiting lists grow even longer and the supply of cadaver donors remains fairly stable, major centers are increasingly turning to the patientsí family and friends for help. UAB, which has led the nation in kidney transplants since 1987, actively seeks out living donors in appropriate situations. ìLiving-related transplants have a higher success rate, and recovery of the donor is almost always completely uneventful,î says surgeon Mark Deierhoi, M.D. UABís percentage of living donors has increased steadily from 23 percent of total in 1990 to 41 percent this year. Today, even unrelated living donors are not unheard of, usually a spouse. Other types of living-donor transplants are possible too, including liver, lung and bone marrow. Call Hank Black, Media Relations, 205-934-8938, or e-mail [email protected].