From Experimental Science to Clinical Medicine- A Historical Overview of Important Milestones in the Evolution of Organ Transplantation
Manik Razdan *
Caring Health Center, 1049 Main St. Springfield MA 01103, USA
Howard B. Degenholtz
Health Policy and Management, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health, A748 Crabtree Hall, 130 De Soto Street Pittsburgh PA 15261, USA
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The remarkable progress of transplant medicine in the latter half of the twentieth century has led to an unprecedented demand for donated organs that have historically remained in short supply. Although a clinically effective procedure, organ transplant’s health benefit to the society is seriously limited by the shortage of organs. While the number of donors has been increasing at a steady rate, the number of people who can be effectively treated with a transplant has, far out-paced the supply of organs. It is therefore ironical that the benefits of transplant medicine are limited by the consequence of its own success. And it is this great paradox that makes this issue interesting and challenging. In this review, we briefly visit the historical developments that resulted in favorable conditions for the evolution of transplant medicine. The brief history of organ transplantation presented here draws attention to the rapid evolution of transplant medicine and the consequent rapid rise in demand for organs. This review is the first of the two-part series. In the second part of this series, we will recount how the society has responded to the increasingly evident need for transplantable organs, as well as, the ethical issues concerning removal of organs from the human body.
Keywords: History of organ transplantation, organ transplantation, HLA typing, organ shortage.