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| V |
Vascular
Related to or containing blood vessels.
Venous
Related to a vein or to the veins.
Ventilator
A machine that "breathes" for a person when he or she is not able to breath properly. In the case of brain death, when the person is clinically dead, the person is sometimes incorrectly referred to as being on life support. In this case, saying that the person is brain dead and that his or her body function is being maintained by a ventilator is more accurate. |
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| W |
Waiting List
After evaluation by the transplant physician, a patient is added to the national waiting list by the transplant center. Lists are specific to both geographic area and organ type (heart, lung, kidney, liver, pancreas, intestine, heart-lung, or kidney-pancreas). Each time a donor organ becomes available, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) computer generates a list of potential recipients based on factors that include genetic similarity, blood type, organ size, medical urgency and time on the waiting list. Through this process, a "new" list is generated each time an organ becomes available that best "matches" a patient to a donated organ. |
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| X |
Xenograft
An organ or tissue procured from a different species for transplantation into a human.
Xenotransplantation
Transplantation of an animal organ into a human. Although xenotransplantation is highly experimental, many scientists view it as an eventual solution to the shortage of human organs. |
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