Organ transplantation has developed from an innovative procedure to what is now routine clinical practice. Successful kidney transplantion began in the 1950s; followed by heart, liver and pancreas transplantation in the 1960s; and lung and small bowel transplantation in the 1980s. Transplantation offers life changing and life saving surgery to many patients with organ failure, but with increasing success also brings increasing need. It is however a team approach involving clinicians, scientists, nurses and donor coordinators as well as the patient and their family. There remain many clinical, scientific, ethical and legal challenges to be met to help increase the success of transplantation. Here, experts in different fields give an overview of different areas of organ donation and transplantation.
