What Every Patient Needs to Know - UMC

CirrhosisA disease of the liver in which normal, healthy tissue isreplaced with nonfunctioning fibrous scar tissue, andhealthy, functioning liver cells are lost. It is the endstage of chronic liver damage that can occur because ofalcohol abuse, malnutrition, viral infections, blockagesin blood or bile flow, genetic diseases, toxins, or other,unknown causes.Cold Ischemia TimeThe amount of time an organ spends being preservedafter recovery from the donor.Compliance (also called Adherence)The ability of a patient to follow (adhere, comply with)medical advice, especially as it relates to takingmedications after transplant.CrossmatchA complex blood test that is performed prior to atransplant to determine if the donor organ is compatiblewith the intended recipient. A positive crossmatchmeans that there was a reaction when the blood of thedonor was mixed with that of the recipient; therefore,the organ should not be placed with that patient. Anegative crossmatch means there is no reaction betweendonor and recipient, and it is probably safe to proceedwith the transplant.Directed DonationThe donation of an organ to a specifically-identifiedrecipient. Instructions are given by a donor or donorfamily member.Donate Life AmericaA nonprofit group of health care professionals, transplantpatients, and voluntary health care and transplantorganizations. Donate Life America works to increasepublic awareness of the organ shortage and promotedonation of organs and tissues.Donation After Circulatory Death (DCD)Donation after circulatory death is the recovery oforgans after the circulation has ceased. DCD occurswhen a patient’s care is futile, and the patient is tobe removed from all medical life-sustainingmeasures/supports.Durable Medical Power of AttorneyA document in which individuals may designate someoneto make medical decisions for them when they are unableto speak for themselves.End-Stage Organ DiseaseA disease that leads to the permanent failure of anorgan. Examples are end-stage renal disease and endstageliver disease.Expanded-Criteria Donors“Less traditional” donors who are 60 or older or whoare between 50 and 59 with at least two ofthe following conditions:• history of high blood pressure• creatinine level >1.5 mg/dL (a creatinine testmeasures how well a kidney is functioning; normalrange is 0.8 to 1.4 mg/dL)• cause of death from a cerebrovascular accident(stroke or aneurysm)Functional StatusA way of measuring the effects that lung disease mayhave on a person’s ability to perform routine daily tasks.Functional status is used in the Lung Allocation Score.GraftA transplanted organ or tissue.Graft SurvivalThe length of time an organ functions successfully afterbeing transplanted.Histocompatibility AntigensMarkers found on cells in the body that are unique toeach individual. Also known as human leukocyte antigens(HLAs), these markers are inherited from one’s parents.A person’s immune system uses HLA markers todifferentiate self from non-self. Any cell displaying aperson’s HLA type belongs to that person and thereforeis not an invader. Any cell displaying some other HLAtype is foreign or “non-self” and is identified as aninvader. This will set off a chain of events that couldresult in the rejection of any cells or tissue bearingthose markers. Therefore, it is important to test atransplant candidate to identify their unique HLA type.45