Organ Transplantation Miniatlas

More than half a century has elapsed from the first organ transplantation in humans, the first experiments in animals dating from the late 19th century and early 20th century. However, the first transplantations were performed on genetically related individuals, since graft rejection used to be common in other cases.It is logical to suppose that the development of the transplantation technique for the different organs is the result of significant advances in the field of surgery. However, as recent history shows, the revolution in this technique dates from the 1980s and is the result of the development and application of new drugs: immunosuppressants. This allowed prolonging patient survival significantly but its effect on the immune system of the host used to produce a high risk of opportunistic infections.Once again, the response to difficulties came from pharmacology, through the development of new products capable of preventing and combatting posttransplant infections.At present, organ transplantation surgeries are treatments for numerous cases of terminal organ dysfunction which offer survival with a high quality of life to an ever-growing number of individuals.