Chronic rejection is the leading cause of organ transplant failure. The organ slowly loses its function and symptoms start to appear. This type of rejection cannot be effectively treated with medicines. Some people may need another transplant.
Acute rejection — is the most common kind and develops over a short period of time, a few days or weeks. The risk is highest during the first 2 to 3 months, but can also happen a year or more after transplant.
Here's a general list of some of the side effects you might have: Nausea and vomiting. Diarrhea. Headache.
It considered these principles essential to prevent commercialization of organs and exploitation of the healthy poor and to promote equality in organ distribution. The supply of organs remains the most persistent problem in the field of organ transplantation.
Possible problems after a transplant
First, many people having a transplant have health problems in addition to kidney failure. These can include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, or other complications of being on dialysis.
The ethical and legal issues related to organ and tissue procurement and transplantation are often discussed in light of such principles as; 1) Autonomy, 2)Benevolence, 3) Non-maleficence, 4)Free and informed consent, 5) Respecting the dignity, integrity and equality of human beings, fairness, and the common good.
The most common infections after heart transplantation are bacterial pneumonias, urinary infections, herpes virus infections, and invasive fungal infections. Pneumonia in heart transplant recipients is mostly caused by common pathogenic bacteria (Table 313-4 ).
In the US, the three leading causes of death after transplantation are cardiovascular disease, malignancy, and infections. Cosio et al. reported that while cardiovascular mortality is higher in diabetics post-transplantation, cancer is the most common cause of death in non-diabetics (Figure 1A).
Immediate, surgery-related risks of organ donation include pain, infection, hernia, bleeding, blood clots, wound complications and, in rare cases, death. Long-term follow-up information on living-organ donors is limited, and studies are ongoing.
The most common complication seen with all types of transplanted organ is neurotoxicity attributable to immunosuppressive drugs, followed by seizures, opportunistic central nervous system (CNS) infections, cardiovascular events, encephalopathy and de novo CNS neoplasms.
Cardiovascular Disease. Cardiovascular disease is now the most common cause of death following renal transplantation (4). Deaths over the years have not abated, and it is likely that the same epidemiologic risk factors for coronary artery disease in the general population are operational in renal transplant recipients.
While transplanted organs can last the rest of your life, many don't. Some of the reasons may be beyond your control: low-grade inflammation from the transplant could wear on the organ, or a persisting disease or condition could do to the new organ what it did to the previous one.
Hyperacute rejection is usually caused by specific antibodies against the graft and occurs within minutes or hours after grafting. Acute rejection occurs days or weeks after transplantation and can be caused by specific lymphocytes in the recipient that recognize human leukocyte antigens in the tissue or organ grafted.
In heart transplants, the rate of organ rejection and patient mortality are the highest, even though the transplants are monitored by regular biopsies. Specifically, some 40% of heart recipients experience some type of severe rejection within one year of their transplant.
Bloodstream infections/sepsis
Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are associated with poor outcomes along with being the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in SOT.
Transplant recipients can therefore get infections more easily because their immune systems are suppressed. It is also more difficult for transplant recipients to recover from infections, and minor infections can become very serious and even lead to death if untreated.
After the transplant may be the most serious time for infection and sepsis risk. There is always a chance of infection from the surgery itself. There is also a risk of healthcare-acquired infections, which increases with patients' length of time in the hospital or a rehabilitation or convalescent setting.
Utility, justice, and respect for persons are three foundational ethical principles that create a framework for the equitable allocation of scarce organs for transplantation.
Because of the need for long-term immunosuppressant therapy to prevent rejection, the patient with a transplant is at high risk for infection, a leading cause of death in transplant patients.
Donation after cardiac death raises a number of special ethical concerns, including how and when death is declared, potential conflicts of interest for physicians in managing the withdrawal of life support for a patient whose organs are to be retrieved for transplantation, and the use of a surrogate decision maker.
To reduce the chances of transplant rejection and loss of a transplant, the following steps are taken before transplantation occurs: Ensure recipient and donor have compatible blood types. Perform genetic testing to ensure compatible recipient and donor matches.
Cardiovascular disease, in addition to infection, is an important cause of death during the first 15 years following renal transplantation even in nondiabetic recipients. Death with functioning graft is of concern.