Many Sleepless Nights: The World of Organ Transplantation

This dramatic, moving account of transplantation patients and the technology involved, written by a University of Pittsburgh professor, is based on Gutkind's four years observing the agonizing hope and despair of the terminally ill who await a matching organ from brain-dead donors. Two procedures are described in detail involving multiple-organ procurement from a 15-year-old boy, a liver for transplant to one patient and the heart and lungs to another, the mother of four. Gutkind conducted research at Pittsburgh's Presbyterian University Hospital, the world's largest transplant and training facility, which works with institutions around the country and those abroad where immunosuppressive drugs have been developed to control the critical problem of rejection. Despite the hazards (up to 20 hours of surgery) and high cost ($90,000-$200,000 plus) of transplantation, the demand far exceeds the supply of organs and medical staff. Most essential, the author points out, is the role of the procurement coordinator who seeks consent of families, links donor with surgeon and arranges retrieval, preservation and transportation of organs. (June)