When a child needs an organ transplant, where do the healthy organs come from?
The organs can come from living donors or deceased donors. Living donors are often related to the recipient, but not always. Deceased donors have generally suffered a fatal brain injury, but their organs are still functioning well. These patients have an absence of brain function, meet criteria for brain death, are legally deceased, but are maintained on mechanical support to maintain organ function for the purpose of donation. Nationally, the organ donation and transplantation activity is administered by UNOS — United Network for Organ Sharing. Children’s is part of the largest organ sharing region in the U.S. — our region includes six states: Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Montana, Idaho and Hawaii. Several members of our transplant team have UNOS appointments.
