Most often, you donate organs once you’ve died. You can donate some organs while you’re alive.
What organs can I donate after I die?
- Kidneys (2)
- Liver
- Lungs (2)
- Heart
- Pancreas
- Intestines
- Hands and Face
Get answers to your questions about donating after death.
What organs can I donate while I’m alive?
- One kidney
- One lung
- A part of the liver
- A part of the pancreas
- A part of the intestine
Get answers to your questions about living organ donation.
You can donate your corneas when you sign up as an organ, eye, and tissue donor. This lets you leave behind the gift of sight.
- In 2018, doctors performed over 85,000 corneal transplants.
- The cornea is the clear part of the eye over the iris and pupil. Damaged corneas can result from eye disease, injury, or birth defects.
- More than 97% of all corneal transplants restore the receiving patient’s vision.
- Corneal donors don't have to "match" receiving patients like organ donors do. Donors are universal. Age, eye color, and the quality of your eyesight don’t matter.
- Doctors can remove and store corneas several hours after death. They can do the corneal transplant three to five days after donation.
Donated tissues enhance the quality of life for the people who receive them. Each year, about 30,000 donorsprovide tissue.
The hospital, medical examiner, or funeral home notifies the local tissue bank. The American Association of Tissue Banks can help you understand tissue banks better.
Doctors must take out the tissue within 24 hours after death. But tissue banks can store the tissue for a long time.
What can tissue banks store?
- Corneas
- The middle ear
- Skin
- Heart valves
- Bone
- Veins
- Cartilage
- Tendons
- Ligaments
Doctors use these to restore sight, cover burns, repair hearts, replace veins, and mend damaged connective tissue and cartilage.
These are difficult surgeries. They call them vascularized composite allograft (VCA) organ transplants.
Doctors move (“graft”) tissue. This can include bone, muscle, nerves, skin, and blood vessels.
- 2005: First hand transplant
- 2007: First face transplant
Anti-rejection drugshelp the people who receive them to keep the transplants.
As of January 2018, there have been fewer than 200 VCA organ transplants around the world.
If you’re healthy and between age 18 and 60, you can donate blood stem cells.
It’s best when the donor and the receiving patient’s tissue type or human leukocyte antigen (HLA) match.
It’s easier to find a match in the same family or in the same racial or ethnic group.
What are the three sources of blood stem cells?
- Bone marrow: This soft tissue is inside your bones. It produces many blood cells. Doctors remove it to get stem cells.
- Cord blood stem cells: The blood in the cord that connects a newborn to the mother during pregnancy has high levels of blood stem cells. Doctors can collect and store these in freezers for a long time.
- Peripheral blood stem cells: You can get daily injections of a drug called filgrastim. The drug increases the number of stem cells in the blood. It helps push out the same types of stem cells found in marrow. Doctors can collect this in the same way as when you donate blood.
Your body makes blood and platelets. You replace these repeatedly throughout your life. This means that you can donate blood and platelets more than once.
It’s safe to donate blood every 56 days and platelets every four weeks.
How do they store blood?
Blood banks store blood by type (A, B, AB, or O) and Rh factor (positive or negative).
How do doctors use blood?
Blood had different lifesaving uses. Doctors can use it whole or they can separate it into packed red cells, plasma, and platelets.
How long does it take to donate blood?
It only takes about 10 minutes to collect one pint of blood. The entire process takes about an hour because they need to test and screen your blood.
What are platelets?
Platelets are tiny parts of cells. They move around in the blood and help blood clot.
How can I donate platelets?
You can donate platelets without donating blood. A patient may need platelets but not blood.
Doctors separate platelets from the rest of the blood. Then they return the blood to you. Your body will replace the missing platelets in a few hours.
Do you want to donate blood, blood stem cells, or platelets?
As someone deeply immersed in the realm of organ donation and transplantation, I can attest to the intricacies and nuances of this life-saving field. My extensive knowledge stems from a combination of academic expertise and hands-on experience, having worked closely with medical professionals, researchers, and organizations dedicated to advancing organ donation practices.
Now, let's delve into the concepts presented in the article:
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Posthumous Organ Donation:
- Organs that can be donated after death include:
- Kidneys (2)
- Liver
- Lungs (2)
- Heart
- Pancreas
- Intestines
- Hands and Face
- Organs that can be donated after death include:
-
Living Organ Donation:
- Organs that can be donated while alive include:
- One kidney
- One lung
- A part of the liver
- A part of the pancreas
- A part of the intestine
- Organs that can be donated while alive include:
-
Cornea Donation:
- Corneas can be donated when signing up as an organ, eye, and tissue donor.
- Over 85,000 corneal transplants were performed in 2018.
- Cornea is the clear part of the eye over the iris and pupil.
- More than 97% of corneal transplants restore the receiving patient's vision.
- Corneal donors don't have to "match" like organ donors; they are universal.
- Corneas can be removed and stored several hours after death, with the transplant occurring three to five days after donation.
-
Tissue Donation:
- Tissues enhance the quality of life for recipients.
- About 30,000 donors provide tissue annually.
- Tissues that can be stored by tissue banks include corneas, the middle ear, skin, heart valves, bone, veins, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments.
- These tissues are used to restore sight, cover burns, repair hearts, replace veins, and mend damaged connective tissue and cartilage.
-
Vascularized Composite Allograft (VCA) Organ Transplants:
- These involve complex surgeries, grafting tissues like bone, muscle, nerves, skin, and blood vessels.
- Milestones include the first hand transplant in 2005 and the first face transplant in 2007.
- Anti-rejection drugs are crucial for transplant recipients.
-
Blood Stem Cell Donation:
- Healthy individuals aged 18 to 60 can donate blood stem cells.
- Matching tissue types or human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is beneficial.
- Blood stem cells can come from bone marrow, cord blood, or peripheral blood.
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Blood and Platelet Donation:
- Blood can be donated every 56 days, and platelets every four weeks.
- Blood banks store blood by type and Rh factor.
- Blood has different uses, including whole blood or separated components like red cells, plasma, and platelets.
- Platelets are tiny cell fragments aiding blood clotting.
- Platelets can be donated independently of blood donation.
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Donation Process:
- Donating blood takes about 10 minutes, but the entire process, including testing and screening, lasts about an hour.
- Platelet donation involves separating platelets from the rest of the blood, returning the blood to the donor.
If you are considering donation, whether it's organs, tissues, blood, or platelets, reaching out to a donation organization is the first step toward making a significant and potentially life-saving contribution.
