Anatomical Gifts — Not Just from the Dead Anymore

The number of anatomical gifts being made by living donors is significant.  Last year, 24.5% of organs used for transplantation came from living donors.  The most commonly donated organs include a kidney (you can live with just one), a slice of liver (your liver will grow back), and a lung lobe (it doesn’t regrow but you can still breathe without it).  Other donated organs include a piece of pancreas and a few inches of intestine.

For more information on living donation, see Sally Satel, A living donor let me live on, USA Today, Oct. 25, 2006, at 13A.