Types of donations and donors
Types of donations and donors
History
Types of donations and donors
Types of donations and donors
Types of donations and donors
Types of donations and donors
Types of donations and donors
Types of donations and donors
Donation's nation
Donation's nation
History
Donation is a totally altruistic gesture. It is considered one of the greatest acts of kindness and love among humans. Donation is a modern expression, even though transplants have been performed for centuries.
In Spain, the first successful human organ transplant was performed in 1965. It was a kidney obtained from a dead corpse and the transplant was done by the famous Gil-Vernet team. In 1983, the first liver transplant in Spain was performed in Barcelona. A year later, in 1984, the first successful heart transplant was carried out by Josep Maria Caralps and Josep Oriol Bonin. The patient survived for nine months and apparently died as a result of an episode of rejection.
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In reference to Navarre, the first transplant with a donated organ was done in 1969 and it was a kidney transplant. It was in July,1984 when the University Clinic of Navarre joined the centres with the technical ability to perform cardiovascular interventions. As a result , renal donors became multiorgan donors that could donate their liver, kidney and heart.
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A primitive concept of transplantation appears in many ancient cultures, specially throughout some forms of heroes, kings, queens and gods. Thanks to transplants, those characters’ powers were highlighted, which is the case of Ganesha (Hindu god of wisdom): a god emerged from a child to whom King Shiva transplanted an elephant head, which explains his wisdom and strength.
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With the passing of centuries, Christianity collects many myths and transforms them into miracles. One of the most popular miracle is the one of Saints Cosmas and Damian. These two doctors replaced Emperor Justinian’s sick leg with the strong and healthy leg of a slave. This may be the first transplant in the entire history.
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Moreover, the first important step in the scientific development of transplants took place at the beginning of the 20th century and it was related to the discovery of vascular suture by a French researcher called Alexis Carrel.
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A verger’s dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495
In 1989, a 64 year-old woman shows her organ donor card | UNOS.org
University Clinic of Navarre l DN
With this advance, the first animal transplant was carried out between 1900 and 1910. This transplant was made with a dog and its kidney. Later, Carrel performed experimental kidney, thyroid, heart and ovarian transplants and his work was recognized with the Nobel Prize in Medicine in the year 1912.
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The first kidney transplant between family members took place in Paris on the 24th of December,1952: a boy fell from a building and broke his kidney, which had to be transplanted. Six days later, his mother’s kidney was transplanted and the health of the child improved rapidly. However, 22 days after, the organ failed due to an episode of rejection and the boy passed away.
The first kidney transplant with survival took place at the Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. The donor and the recipient were twins, so they could not suffer from rejection. Besides, the first heart transplant was made in 1967. Although the patient survived for 18 days, the success of the transplant had great scientific and media repercussion.
Time has passed and the medical revolution has begun. Our grandparents could not imagine the wonders of modern medicine. Not even our parents saw the possibility of transplanting legs and lungs. However, today it is possible to make donations and transplants of eggs, marrow, hair and even skulls can be transplanted.
In 1906, the French surgeon Mathieu Jaboulay published the first transplant performed on a human. This was a renal graft from a pig, implanted in an elbow of a woman who suffered from a renal disease. This attempt was a disaster because of the incompatibility between species, but it did not discourage other researchers.
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In the following decades, Russian, French and American researchers carried out different experiments with animals and the first transplant of a human kidney was made in 1933. The donor’s blood group was 0 and the receiver’s group was B. Due to the incompatibility, this attempt was also a disaster and the receiver died in 48 hours.
Alexis Carrel I Wikipedia
Likewise, the experience of 30 years of donations and transplants has enabled Navarre to optimise methods and protocols. Our Autonomous Community has 3 important hospitals that help with organ donation: the Hospital of Navarre takes care of the extraction of organs, the Virgen del Camino Hospital usually collects tissues and the University Clinic of Navarre is the place where most transplantations are performed. Rafael Matesanz, the creator of ONT, said: “The transplantation teams of Navarre are some of the oldest and most consolidated ones in Spain and the ones that have achieved the best results in the long history of transplants in Spain”
Pedro Cavadas with one of his patients l EFE l Biel Aliño
The most incredible thing in transplants is the face donation. The eminence of medicine Pedro Cavadas has performed several face transplants with amazing and controversial results. There are many people who oppose these practices as they believe they are immoral and unethical. On the other hand, the greatest Spanish surgeon, affirms that the face transplant does not try to satisfy a whim of a person who is not happy with the defects that he or she has, it would only be performed in extreme cases. According to Dr. Cavadas there is no ethical or moral particularity in transplanting a corpse’s face to a faceless person. In conclusion, ethical considerations or the hypothetical psychological impact of the transplant are irrelevant compared to the happiness and peace this intervention gives.