What is the difference between organ and tissue donation?
Organ (heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, and pancreas) donation can only be done on a donor who has been declared brain dead but whose other organs are kept functioning by sophisticated hospital machinery. Because brain death is not a common occurrence, viable organ donors are rare. Tissue donation (eyes, bone, skin, veins, heart valves, tendons, etc.) can occur even after the heart has ceased beating. Most deaths are potential tissue donors (depending on a medical, social history, etc.). Organ donors can also be tissue donors.
