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UW Health is exploring medical advances in organ and tissue donations

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Madison, Wisconsin (WIFR)-Organ donors are always needed, and the UW Health Transplant Center team is a safe and innovative way to provide patients with the organs they need to live longer and healthier lives. There is a typical solution.

Approximately 6,000 people die each year due to lack of necessary organs. Experts say that not everyone receives organs in time because they need donations. However, the medical evolution in organ availability may provide the transplant center with a solution that bridges its need, said Dr. Dixon Kaufmann, director of the UW Health Transplant Center.

“Not so long ago, there were many patients, such as hepatitis patients, who couldn’t donate because of the risk of transmission,” Kaufman said. “Today, we can adapt to more situations in modern medicine, which means that more organs are available and more lives can be saved.”

The expanded standard of hearts available for transplantation gives surgeons the opportunity to effectively transplant a heart from a donor who has experienced a heart death, unlike a heart attack.

Since the change, UW Health surgeons have performed 20 surgeries in the last 18 months, accounting for a quarter of heart transplants in the healthcare system.

According to Kaufman, the healthcare system has also been successful in living donor programs, primarily for liver and kidney transplants.

“With a powerful pair kidney donation program, individuals who may not be compatible to donate to their loved ones” replace “the kidneys if they can match a family member facing similar incompatibilities. You can, “Kaufman said. “UW Health is one of the major transplant centers adopting this method. It is often the fastest and best option for anyone in need of a kidney transplant.”

Kaufman said high-performance organ procurement operations could also improve access to organs. A process called organ reperfusion.

“Organ reperfusion shows amazing potential,” he said. “This is the process of better protecting organs from dead donors by putting them in the oxygenated liquid of the pump. This process improves the function of some organs for future recipients. You can even do it. “

Continued research into these medical advances is under construction for a new, larger and more comprehensive UW HealthTransplant Clinic. Leaders are now looking to the community to boost this momentum by registering as donors. UW Health encourages everyone to register their decision to become a donor of organs, eyes and tissues at organdonor.gov.

Kaufman says the transplant community has room to move towards xenotransplantation. Xenotransplantation is the procedure for transplanting cells, tissues, or organs from an animal with an organ about the size of a human to a human without a human donation.

Researchers hope that xenotransplantation will provide a way to reduce the risk of tissue and organ rejection. Research could revolutionize the availability of organs in patients who are patiently waiting for a better quality of life.

Despite the pandemic, in 2020, a record 548 patients at UW Health received a transplant. In October of the same year, UW Health was the first facility in Wisconsin to perform a double lung transplant for a person who experienced lung injury from COVID-19.

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