Transplantation is the surgical removal of an organ from one person and the placing of that organ into another person. The transplanted organ replaces one that has stopped functioning, or is functioning so improperly as to be life threatening. Examples of solid organs that are transplanted are heart, kidney, liver, pancreas, intestine and lung. In some cases, two organs can be transplanted at once, such as with heart-lung transplants and kidney-pancreas transplants.

Transplantation of organs dates back to the years following the Second World War. Then, the immunological basis for the rejection of transplants was unraveled. By the 1960s, some organ transplantation was becoming a more routine part of surgical therapy.

Organ failure can occur because of injury, such as the trauma suffered in an automobile accident, or because of illness. Examples of illness include congestive heat failure and genetic conditions like cystic fibrosis...