In our country, tens of thousands need transplantation of organs, but during a year only few operations are conducted (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssp7YFiy6pI). Transplantation is required both for adults and children, just ordinary people who live with us. Many people who need organ transplants die, without getting it.  One of the reasons for this low number of operations is the negative society attitude to transplantation. Unfortunately, for most Ukrainians organ transplantation is associated not with saving lives, but with tales of kidnapping people and selling of organs. Only few people know that all of this is just myths that have nothing to do with reality.

11 misconceptions about transplantation.

The idea of transplantation of donor organs to terminally ill people rises in society constantly since the days of the first such operations. It is closely linked to the ethical and religious beliefs, the level of trust in government and the education level of people. However, while some countries have understood that this area of medicine can be controlled and should be developed, the others, including Ukraine, are filled with fear of possible abuse in this area and mistrust in medicine.

In this article we will explain what caused these fears and what is their truth?

Myth One: Any organ can be transplanted from one person to another. Therefore, people are kidnapped and killed in order to take their organs.

Fact: Organ transplant from a donor – both living and deceased – should match the recipient in size, weight, blood type and genetic compatibility. Otherwise the reaction of acute rejection, leading to the death of the recipient, is inevitable. The exception is only the liver – it can be taken not entirely, but partially as the liver is able to recover itself to normal size in a living donor and the recipient. In order to find a suitable pair of donor-recipient, you need to have a waiting list of dozens of patients.

Myth Two: The patient can buy a donor organ, you can order the murder for this.

Fact: It is impossible. To get a matching patient organ, you need to take it from at least 25-30 people. And there is no guarantee that it will match, as it should match not only all analyzes, but also to be healthy and workable. Typically, among the potential donors only every tenth is suitable for organ transplants.

Myth Three: Anyone can sell doctors his kidney and they will find whom to transplant it to.

Fact: believing in it, some people besieged clinics, which perform organ transplantations, offering them to buy the kidney. But transplantations (of kidney or part of the liver) from living donors are conducted only for close relatives. Anonymous kidney or kidney from the non-relative can’t be transplanted in Ukraine – it is restricted by law. Most countries also prohibit payment for donor organ – they are considered priceless. Payment is adopted in some of the poorest countries in the world but condemned by the international community and a special declaration of WHO (the Istanbul declaration on condemning of transplant tourism and organ trafficking, 2008). For example, it’s allowed in Iran, but prohibited for foreigners, and managed by not a state, but the association of patients. Donor gets about $1,200 from the state or charities and free medical insurance. It is believed that this program has reduced the waiting list and involuntary family donation.

Myth Four: Criminals kill people and sell their organs.

Fact: it’s impossible! All human organs are sensitive to low blood flow. This is understandable, since the blood delivers oxygen and nutrients needed for life. When the person dies (heart stops), human organs die from lack of oxygen.

To make bodies suitable for transplantation the deceased person must be connected to artificial life support systems. Artificial ventilation of lungs ensures the supply of oxygen to the lungs and artificial blood circulation system ensures the supply of oxygen to all organs. The process of maintaining normal work of all organs after death is called conditioning of organ donor. Resuscitators deal with it. Conditioning of organ donor can’t be carried out outside the well-equipped hospital. This procedure involves artificial life support machines and special medicines. It can be conducted only by experienced well-trained medical personnel. Running this procedure in some basement or the morgue is impossible!

Obviously, in order to become a donor, at the moment of his/her death the person should be in the emergency room or hospital, which is the intensive care unit.

Myth Five: The organs can be taken by any doctor or even non-doctor. You only need a good knife.

Fact: the removal of organs from deceased person is complicated high-tech operation that requires good operating and expensive equipment. Beforehand, the body requires special procedures that lasts from four to eight hours – depending on the organ. The ventilator and special medicines are also required. Simultaneously, about 20-25 complex and expensive tests are conducted to determine the suitability of the body (eg, lack of donor latent infections) and its immunological characteristics. So, you need a good and expensive laboratory and experts in it. Without all of this, no organ will fit for transplantation.

Myth Six: Physicians are interested in taking organs in material way. So they don’t save those who got in an accident and patients who could be saved. Possible conspiracy, checking is impossible.

Fact: In Ukraine, most doctors don’t want to participate in such operations. And not just because they don’t receive remuneration for complicated and emotionally difficult work, but often because of religious or ethical reasons. In the resuscitation of such patients 7-10 hospital staff of different specialties take part. By law, the diagnosis of “death of the brain” is set by the team of medical experts who don’t work in this hospital. Taking of organs is conducted by another team, specially created for such operations. Transplantation of organs is usually conducted in another clinic and by other doctors. Together, the procedures involve 25 to 40 people. Conspiracy in such circumstances is hardly possible, and with the random selection of the recipient is ridiculous.

Myth Seven: The patients, who are waiting for organ transplants, can bribe doctors to speed transplantation.

Fact: Since the appearance of the donor can’t be planned, selection of the recipient comes almost simultaneously with the operation for organ harvesting. The selection is carried according to the waiting list by comparing data of donor and recipient. Expiration date of taken organs is very short: heart and lungs – 4 hours, liver – 12 hours, kidneys – up to 20 hours. Often, the suitable recipient can’t come to the clinic so quickly, then the next matching person in the waiting list gets the chance. Exceptions are made only for those who are in an emergency waiting list, that is on the verge of death and is already in the clinic, regardless of when he got there. But they not always get lucky.

Myth Eight: The diagnosis of “brain death” may be false. After all, people wake up from coma after many days or even months.

Fact: This diagnosis is based not only on external features (the large head injury or brain hemorrhage, lack of awareness, self-breathing and reflexes) and prolonged observation, but after a complex research body, including electroencephalogram and X-rays with the contrast in vessels of head (angiogram). Brain is dead, if there is no blood supply. If the patient is in a coma (up to 40 days) or even in a vegetative state (consciousness is absent for longer period), some brain activity persists, which is visible in the EEG and angiogram. Tests are repeated at various intervals.

Myth Nine: A person can get transplantation performed in an underground clinic, which no one knows.

Fact: organ transplantation is only the beginning of treatment of such patients. Further, during whole their life they have to take special medications (immunosuppressive) that protect the transplanted organ from rejection. Doses of medicines are occasionally adjusted. Therefore, patients should be examined every year in the same hospital and by the same doctors, who operated him/her. Medicines are expensive, they cost more than 50 thousand UAH a year and are provided by the state, but the patient should receive regular recipes at home, where his medical history has information on where and by whom he was treated. The patient, who had a transplantation in underground clinic, won’t be able to get all this.

Myth Ten: Children are being sold for organs – the police repeatedly informed on this.

Fact: The media reported that the parents (grandmother, grandfather) sold young children for organs. But the buyers always  were law enforcement officers. No real buyer was found.

Myth eleventh: World religions are against transplantation of organs after death.

All major world religions have nothing against free donation and organ transplantation. By itself, the idea to give your organ after death to save life of another person is a noble goal, close in spirit for most world religions.