Organ Donation Glosssary

Blood type
One of four groups (A, B, AB, or O) into which blood is classified.
Dialysis
A method of filtering the blood that tries to do the job of the kidneys. This includes removing extra fluid from the blood (which would usually leave the body as urine) and balancing chemicals (electrolytes) in the blood.
Health care provider
The health care provider a person sees when he or she does not feel well or for annual medical check-ups. This kind of health care provider is also called a primary care physician.
Independent living donor advocate (ILDA)
A person who understands the organ donation process and who is not part of the transplant team. This person will:
  • Promote your best interests
  • Check that you have received information about:
  • The informed consent process
  • The tests needed to be a living donor and the risks of these tests
  • The surgery, and the care you will get after the surgery
  • The need to have follow-up care after donation
  • Help you get more information about these topics as needed; the ILDA should not be involved with the transplant candidate
  • Informed consent - When a person has information about a test or procedure, understands the information, and then agrees to participate in the test or procedure.
Living donor team
The transplant hospital staff whose job is to talk with, evaluate, and protect the interests of living donors.
Medical follow-up
The requirement that living donors have medical tests a minimum of six months, 12 months, and 24 months after donation. The purpose is to make sure the donor is healthy even if the donor feels well. The transplant hospital should talk with the living donor about how and where to do medical follow-up.
Organ rejection
When a transplant recipient's body recognizes the transplanted organ as foreign and attacks it. Acute rejection is when a person's body mounts a sudden attack on the transplanted organ. Chronic rejection is when a person's body slowly damages the transplanted organ over time. Both can result in organ failure.
Transplant
Surgery to take an organ from one person's body and put into another person's body.
Transplant candidate
A person who needs an organ transplant and who has been approved by a transplant hospital to have one.
Transplant hospital
A hospital where experienced surgeons perform organ transplants. Not all hospitals perform organ transplants.
Transplant recipient
A person who had an organ that was not working and who got an organ from a living or deceased donor.
Waitlist
Medical information about people who have been approved to get a transplant and who are waiting for an organ from a deceased donor. When an organ becomes available, a computer matches the organ with waitlist candidates based on rules designed to be fair to everyone who is waiting for an organ.