Organ Transplantation

You may need an organ transplant if one of your own organs has failed. This can happen because of illness or injury. When you have an organ transplant, doctors remove an organ from another person and place it in your body.

The organs that can be transplanted include

• Heart
• Intestine
• Kidney
• Liver
• Lung
• Pancreas

People who need an organ transplant often have to wait a long time for one. Doctors must match donors to recipients to reduce the risk of transplant rejection. This is when the recipient's body turns against the new organ, causing it to fail. People who have transplants must take drugs the rest of their lives to help keep their bodies from rejecting the new organ.