Organ Donation

Cadaveric

Cadaveric donation allows surgeons to procure an organ from a brain-dead individual whose family is consulted to obtain their permission for organ donation. It is important that all individuals sign an organ donor card so that the family is aware of your wishes prior to death.

Living

Living donation can be used for a liver or kidney transplant, with organs being donated from a family member or a close personal friend. In the case of live liver donation, a portion of the liver from the living donor is removed; for kidney donation, the living donor donates one kidney. With living donation, better matches almost always come from family members. For the patient, this also means there is less chance of rejection of the new organ. Living donation also helps to remove the waiting time for an organ to become available.

The living donor can lead a normal, healthy and long life after donating.

Organ Procurement

The organ procurement organization (OPO) is responsible for giving donor information to UNOS.

Once a donor organ is identified, the transplant process starts moving at a rapid pace. If the family of the brain-dead individual agrees to organ donation, an OPO coordinator immediately contacts UNOS with all appropriate information, and the computer generates possible matches. If a match is made, the donor organ and the recipient are both evaluated to make sure that the match is a good one.

The Southern California OPO is OneLegacy at www.onelegacy.org