Glossary of Terms

Allocation Policies
Rules or policies, generally based on medical criteria, established by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) to guide and regulate organ allocation or distribution in the United States.

Brain Death
The total and permanent loss of all brain function; a medical and legal determination of death.

Candidate
A person who is waiting for a transplant.

Cardiac Death
Death resulting from the cessation of heart function; an individual who suffers a cardiac death can donate tissues like bone and skin, but typically cannot donate organs.

Deceased Donor
An individual whose tissues or organs are donated after his or her death. Such donations come from two sources: patients who have suffered brain death and patients whose hearts have irreversibly stopped beating. The latter group is referred to as nonheartbeating donors.

Donation
The act of giving one's organs or tissues to someone else.

Donation Rate
The total number of actual donors divided by the total number of eligible donors.

Donor
A deceased or living donor who provides cells and/or tissue for transplantation in accordance with established medical criteria and procedures.

Family Consent
Written consent is obtained from the next-of-kin for deceased donors in South Carolina. All people who desire to become organ and tissue donors should inform their families so that their wishes may be fulfilled.

Living Donor
A living person who donates an organ for transplantation, such as a kidney or a segment of the lung, liver, pancreas, or intestine. Living donors may be blood relatives, emotionally related individuals, or altruistic strangers.

Ocular
Of or pertaining to the eye.

Organ Procurement Organization (OPO)
A certified, not-for-profit organization designated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to be responsible for the procurement of organs for transplantation and the promotion of organ donation within a given Donation Service Area (DSA). There are 59 OPOs nationwide that facilitate the organ donation process by assessing in-hospital deaths for donor eligibility; consulting with families of potential donors; and retrieving, preserving, and transporting organs for transplantation.

Organ
A part of the body made up of tissues and cells that enable it to perform a particular function. Transplantable organs are the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, pancreas and intestines.

Perfusion
The passage of fluid through empty spaces to preserve the viability of recovered organs.

Placement
The process of allocating donated organs via the match system.

Procurement
The process of donor screening and the evaluation, removal, preservation, and distribution of organs, tissues, or cells for transplantation.

Recipient
An individual who receives transplanted organs or tissues. Federal and State legislation requires hospitals to have in place written policies and protocols for referring potential organ and tissue donors and/or requesting donation from families of potential donors. Factors such as race, gender, and age, income or celebrity status are not considered when determining who receives organs or tissues.

Recover
A term used to describe the surgical removal of life-saving and life-enhancing organs and tissues.

South Carolina Organ & Tissue Donor Registry
A statewide database that enables an individual to register their legally binding consent to become an organ and/or tissue donor following their death. The official online site for registration is www.Every11Minutes.org.

Tissues
Tissues available for transplantation include corneas, skin, bone, heart valves, veins and tendons.

Transplant Center
A medical institution within the United States that operates an organ transplant program. The Medical University of South Carolina is currently the only transplant center within our state.

Ventilator
A machine that "breathes" for a patient when the patient is not able to breathe properly.

Waiting List
After evaluation by a team of transplant professionals, a patient is added to the national waiting list by the transplant center. When a donor organ becomes available, the matching system generates a new, more specific list of potential recipients based on the criteria defined in that organ’s allocation policy (e.g., organ type, geographic local and regional area, genetic compatibility measures, details about the condition of the organ, the candidate’s disease severity, time spent waiting, etc.).