The pancreas is a gland behind your stomach and in front of your spine. It produces the juices that help break down food and the hormones that help control blood sugar levels. A pancreas transplant is surgery to place a healthy pancreas from a donor into a person with a diseased pancreas. It is
Your liver is the largest organ inside your body. It helps your body digest food, store energy, and remove poisons. You cannot live without a liver that works. If your liver fails, your doctor may put you on a waiting list for a liver transplant. Doctors do liver transplants when other treatment cannot keep a
A lung transplant removes a person’s diseased lung and replaces it with a healthy one. The healthy lung comes from a donor who has died. Some people get one lung during a transplant. Other people get two.
Lung transplants are used for people who are likely to die from lung disease within 1 to 2
A kidney transplant is an operation that places a healthy kidney in your body. The transplanted kidney takes over the work of the two kidneys that failed, so you no longer need dialysis.
During a transplant, the surgeon places the new kidney in your lower abdomen and connects the artery and vein of the new
Islets are cells found in clusters throughout the pancreas. They are made up of several types of cells. One of these is beta cells, which make insulin. Insulin is a hormone that helps the body use glucose for energy. Islet cell transplantation transfers cells from an organ donor into the body of another person. It
A heart transplant removes a damaged or diseased heart and replaces it with a healthy one. The healthy heart comes from a donor who has died. It is the last resort for people with heart failure when all other treatments have failed. The heart failure might have been caused by coronary heart disease, damaged heart
Every year, millions of people in the United States receive life-saving blood transfusions. During a transfusion, you receive whole blood or parts of blood such as:
Red blood cells – cells that carry oxygen to and from tissues and organs
Platelets – cells that form clots to control bleeding
Plasma – the liquid part of the
A bone graft transplants bone tissue. Surgeons use bone grafts to repair and rebuild diseased bones in your hips, knees, spine, and sometimes other bones and joints. Grafts can also repair bone loss caused by some types of fractures (broken bones) or cancers. Once your body accepts the bone graft, it provides a framework for
Bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside some of your bones, such as your hip and thigh bones. It contains immature cells, called stem cells. The stem cells can develop into red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body, white blood cells, which fight infections, and platelets, which help the blood to clot.
A bone