Organ Donation
Currently, approximately 800 people are waiting for a transplant in Quebec and more than 4,000 in Canada.
In recent years, an average of 180 donors have enabled more than 500 transplants each year. The survival rate of transplant recipients varies depending on the organ, but is generally between 70% and 90% and that, 10 years after surgery.
In Quebec, Transplant Quebec is solely responsible for coordinating the organ donation process.
The Allocation of Organs
The allocation of organs is carried out according to rigorous protocols which take various factors into account:
- the blood group of the donor and the potential recipient;
- the compatibility of antigens between the donor and the potential recipient;
- the weight and height of the donor and the potential recipient;
- the medical urgency status of the person awaiting an organ;
- the date when the recipient was registered on the transplant waiting list.
The name of all the persons awaiting an organ transplant is entered on a single list managed by Transplant Quebec.
To find out more
Organizations:
The Lungs
MAIN CAUSES FOR A TRANSPLANT
- cystic fibrosis
- pulmonary hypertension
- emphysema
- pulmonary edema
AVERAGE WAITING TIME IN QUEBEC
350 days
SURGERY
Transplantation involves removing one or both lungs and replacing them with lungs from a donor.
DURATION OF THE OPERATION
From 5 to 10 hours
PRESERVATION PERIOD
For 4 to 8 hours
INTERESTING FACTS
- Just one lung can save a life.
- A donor can donate her or his lungs to two different people.
- It is sometimes possible to cut down lungs that are too big.
- You can live with just one lung.
FROM YESTERDAY TO TODAY
- The first lung transplant was performed in Belgium in 1968.
- The first successful unilateral lung transplant was performed in Toronto in 1982.
- The first successful bilateral lung transplant was performed in 1986, also in Toronto.
SEE ALSO
The Heart
MAIN CAUSES FOR A TRANSPLANT
- cardiomyopathy
- heart failure
- myocarditis
- congenital heart disease
AVERAGE WAITING TIME IN QUEBEC
285 days
SURGERY
A heart transplant involves removing the defective heart and implantable devices, such as a cardiac defibrillator or a pacemaker, and replacing them with a healthy heart from an organ donation.
DURATION OF THE OPERATION
From 4 to 6 hours
PRESERVATION PERIOD
For 4 to 6 hours
INTERESTING FACTS
- After a transplant, nearly 85% return to work or to activities they had previously enjoyed.
- In very young children, the donor and the recipient do not have to be of the same blood type.
- In a therapeutic impasse, the mechanical heart technique acts as a "bridge" while waiting for a heart.
FROM YESTERDAY TO TODAY
- The first heart transplant was performed in South Africa by Dr. Christian Barnard on December 3, 1967.
- The first heart transplant in Canada took place at the Montreal Heart Institute on May 31, 1968.
- The first pediatric heart transplant was performed by Dr. Pierre Chartrand at Sainte-Justine Hospital in 1984.
SEE ALSO
The Liver
MAIN CAUSES FOR A TRANSPLANT
- congenital abnormalities of the liver or bile ducts
- chronic infections such as hepatitis
- damage from drugs and alcohol
AVERAGE WAITING TIME IN QUEBEC
185 days
SURGERY
Liver transplantation involves replacing a diseased liver with a healthy liver, or a portion of the liver, from a donor.
DURATION OF THE OPERATION
From 6 to 8 hours
PRESERVATION PERIOD
For 12 to 15 hours
NTERESTING FACTS
- Sometimes a liver can be split in half. Thus, one donor can be the source of two liver transplants.
- The liver regenerates and, in a few months, a living donor's liver will have regained 90% of its initial size.
- The oldest donor was 92 years old and he donated his liver.
FROM YESTERDAY TO TODAY
The first human liver transplant was performed in the United States in 1963.
SEE ALSO
The Kidneys
MAIN CAUSES FOR A TRANSPLANT
- high blood pressure
- diabetes
- cystic kidney disease
AVERAGE WAITING TIME IN QUEBEC
400 days
SURGERY
Kidney transplantation involves the transplantation of a new functioning kidney to replace the defective kidneys. This operation consists of connecting the veins, arteries and the urinary tract to the bladder.
DURATION OF THE OPERATION
From 2 to 3 hours
PRESERVATION PERIOD
For 24 to 48 hours
INTERESTING FACTS
- Seventy-five percent of people waiting for a transplant are waiting for a kidney.
- While waiting for their transplant, many patients are required to undergo 12 to 14 hours of dialysis per week to remove toxins from their blood.
- The recipient's kidneys are usually left in place and the transplanted kidney is placed in a different spot.
- Often, the new kidney begins to produce urine as soon as blood begins circulating there.
- Anyone who is healthy can donate a kidney while they are alive.
- The age of consent ranges from 16 to 19 depending on the province. In Quebec, it's 18 years old.
FROM YESTERDAY TO TODAY
The first successful kidney transplant was performed in 1954 by an American, Joseph Murray.
SEE ALSO
The Pancreas and the Islets of Langerhans
MAIN CAUSES FOR A TRANSPLANT
- diabetes
- the patient's pancreas does not produce enough insulin, a hormone essential for digestion
AVERAGE WAITING TIME IN QUEBEC
355 days
SURGERY
The operation consists of the removal of a healthy pancreas from a recently deceased person or, in rare cases, part of the pancreas of a living person, followed by its implantation in a person with severe diabetes.
DURATION OF THE OPERATION
3 hours
PRESERVATION PERIOD
For 12 to 24 hours
INTERESTING FACTS
- Because the pancreas is a vital organ that performs functions necessary for the digestion process, the recipient's pancreas is left in place and the transplanted pancreas is implanted in a different spot.
- Over 90% of those who receive a pancreas transplant also receive a kidney at the same time.
FROM YESTERDAY TO TODAY
The first pancreas transplant was performed in 1966 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
INNOVATIONS
The Intestines
MAIN CAUSES FOR A TRANSPLANT
- twisted or blocked bowels or short bowel syndrome
- permanent intestinal failure
SURGERY
Bowel transplantation is a rare surgery that allows people with intestinal failure to regain the ability to eat regularly and live more normal lives.
DURATION OF THE OPERATION
From 8 to 12 hours or longer
PRESERVATION PERIOD
For 6 to 10 hours
INTERESTING FACTS
- More than half of intestinal transplant recipients are under the age of 18.
- Half of the people who need a bowel transplant also need a liver transplant.
- About a month after the bowel transplant, the person can resume living and eating normally, even if they have to take anti-rejection medicine for life.
FROM YESTERDAY TO TODAY
To date, small intestine transplants are rarely performed anywhere in the world.
SEE ALSO
Small-Bowel Transplantation
Tissue Donation
Donating tissue can improve the quality of life. For example, it can treat severe burns (skin grafts) and restore sight to the visually impaired (cornea grafts).
One donor can help up to 20 people and it can even save lives!
Tissue donation can be done at any age, from newborns to the elderly, but it must be done within 24 hours following death.
As with organ donation, no tissue is removed without the family’s consent.
In Quebec, Héma-Québec is solely responsible for coordinating the process for donating tissue, blood and others.
SEE ALSO
Eye Tissues
The cornea is the transparent dome-shaped surface of the eye.
SURGERY
Sight can be restored with a corneal transplant. The damaged corneal tissue is replaced with a clear, healthy cornea from a deceased person.
SUCCESS RATE
Over 90%
MISCELLANEOUS FACTS
- One donor allows two people to have a cornea transplant.
- Corneal blindness can happen to anyone, at any age.
INNOVATIONS
Restoring vision with stem cells
Heart Valves
Heart tissue can be donated separately from the heart.
SURGERY
The heart valves are recovered when the whole heart is not viable for transplantation.
EXPECTED RESULT
To enable the patient's heart to function normally
FREQUENCY
Among the tissues most often transplanted
MISCELLANEOUS FACT
Heart tissue donations are used primarily to repair genetic abnormalities in young children and babies.
Veins and Arteries
- The role of blood vessels is to carry blood to all organs.
- The arteries leave from the heart and the veins carry the blood back to the heart.
SURGERY
Many people lose the circulation in their legs (or their heart) due to illness or trauma.
EXPECTED RESULT
Reconstruction that restores the recipient’s normal blood flow
Ligaments and Tendons
- A ligament connects two bones together in a joint.
- A tendon connects a muscle to a bone.
SURGERY
Traumatic injuries or sports injuries can destroy joints, causing pain and loss of mobility.
EXPECTED RESULT
Reconstruction of the injured joint
INNOVATION
Using dynamic bioreactors to engineer tendons grafts
Bones
Bone transplants are used to replace bone that has been lost because of cancer, other diseases or an accident.
SURGERY
For a bone graft, part of the tibia, ribs, fibula or pelvis can be removed.
EXPECTED RESULTS
To avoid amputation, promote healing and maintain mobility
MISCELLANEOUS FACTS
- Transplanted bone does not survive long, but it stimulates the growth of new bone, stabilizes the location and provides a structure for the new bone to fill.
- Depending on the type of transplant, more than 10 people can benefit from a single bone donation.
INNOVATIONS
Latest advances in arthroplasty
Skin
SURGERY
When donating skin, only a thin layer is removed. This layer is like the skin that peels after a sunburn.
Skin grafts protect the recipient against infections during the regeneration of their own skin.
EXPECTED RESULTS
Saving the lives of severely burned patients
FREQUENCY
The tissue that is the most commonly transplanted
MISCELLANEOUS FACT
The skin accounts for about 15% of the body's weight.
INNOVATIONS
Une technologie qui pourrait éliminer le besoin de greffes de la peau (in French)
Allotransplant
Allotransplants (or allografts) are, for example, the transplantation of an organ or tissue from one human (the donor) to another human (the recipient). There is also the possibility of transplanting an arm, and even a face.
Speaking of this, in 2018, at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont in Montreal, Dr. Daniel Borsuk and his team performed the first facial transplant in Canada. It was a 30-hour surgery that required the expertise of multiple specialists and the exceptional collaboration of more than a hundred other people!
Dr Daniel Borsuk, chief plastic surgeon at CHU Sainte-Justine, explains the advances in this area.
Report on Radio Canada with Dr. Daniel Borsuk (in French)
Kidney
Part of the Liver
Blood and Plasma
Stem Cells