Autotransplantation is the transplantation of

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

s, tissues, or even particular

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...

s from one part of the body to another in the same person ('' auto-'' meaning "self" in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

). The autologous tissue (also called autogenous, autogeneic, or autogenic tissue) transplanted by such a procedure is called an autograft or autotransplant. It is contrasted with

allotransplantation Allotransplant (''allo-'' meaning "other" in Greek) is the transplantation of cells, tissues, or organs to a recipient from a genetically non-identical donor of the same species. The transplant is called an allograft, allogeneic transplant, o ...

(from other individual of the same species),

syngeneic The word "syngenic" or "syngeneic" (from the Greek word for a relative) means genetically identical, or sufficiently identical and immunologically compatible as to allow for transplantation. For example, it may be used for something transplanted fr ...

transplantation (grafts transplanted between two genetically identical individuals of the same species) and

xenotransplantation Xenotransplantation (''xenos-'' from the Greek meaning "foreign" or strange), or heterologous transplant, is the transplantation of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another. Such cells, tissues or organs are called xenograft ...

(from other species). A common example is the removal of a piece of bone (usually from the hip) and its being ground into a paste for the reconstruction of another portion of bone. Autotransplantation, although most common with blood, bone, or skin, can be used for a wide variety of organs. One of the rare examples is autotransplantation of a kidney from one side of the body to the other. Kidney autotransplantation is used as a treatment for nutcracker syndrome.

Autologous blood donation

In blood banking terminology, autologous

blood donation A blood donation occurs when a person voluntarily has blood drawn and used for transfusions and/or made into biopharmaceutical medications by a process called fractionation (separation of whole blood components). Donation may be of whole bl ...

refers to a blood donation marked for use by the donor, typically for a scheduled surgery. (Generally, the notion of "donation" does not refer to giving to oneself, though in this context it has become somewhat acceptably idiomatic.) They are commonly called "autos" by blood bank personnel, and it is one major form of the more general concept of autotransfusion (the other being intraoperative blood salvage). Some advantages of autologous blood donation are: * Blood type will always match, even with a rare

blood type A blood type (also known as a blood group) is a classification of blood, based on the presence and absence of antibodies and inherited antigenic substances on the surface of red blood cells (RBCs). These antigens may be proteins, carbohydrates ...

antibody An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of t ...

type. * If only autologous blood is used during surgery the risk of exposure to infectious disease such as

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes ( jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal ...

or HIV from blood is eliminated. * The risk of

allergic Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, refer a number of conditions caused by the hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include hay fever, food allergies, atopic der ...

reactions is reduced. The disadvantages are: * Higher cost due to individualized processing, record-keeping, and management. * In most cases, the blood is discarded if it is not used instead of being added to the general supply. * Blood donation prior to colorectal cancer surgery seemed causative for a worse overall and colorectal cancer specific survival. Autologous blood is not routinely tested for infectious diseases markers such as HIV antibodies. In the United States, autologous blood is tested only if it is collected in one place and shipped to another. There is also a risk that, in an emergency or if more blood is required than has been set aside in advance, the patient could still be exposed to donor blood instead of autologous blood. Autologous donation is also not suitable for patients who are medically unable to or advised not to give blood, such as

cardiac The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to t ...

patients or small

child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person young ...

ren and infants.

Bone autograft

In orthopaedic medicine, a

bone graft Bone grafting is a surgical procedure that replaces missing bone in order to repair bone fractures that are extremely complex, pose a significant health risk to the patient, or fail to heal properly. Some small or acute fractures can be cured wit ...

can be sourced from a patient's own bone in order to fill space and produce an osteogenic response in a bone defect. However, due to the donor-site morbidity associated with autograft, other methods such as bone allograft and

bone morphogenetic protein Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are a group of growth factors also known as cytokines and as metabologens. Originally discovered by their ability to induce the formation of bone and cartilage, BMPs are now considered to constitute a group of ...

s and synthetic graft materials are often used as alternatives. Autografts have long been considered the "Gold Standard" in oral surgery and implant dentistry because it offered the best regeneration results. Lately, the introduction of morphogen-enhanced bone graft substitutes have shown similar success rates and quality of regeneration; however, their price is still very high.

Organ autotransplantation

Autotransplantation of selected organs is often preceded by ''ex vivo'' (also bench, back-table, or extracorporeal) surgery. For example, ''ex vivo'' liver resection and autotransplantation is used in the treatment of selected cases of conventionally unresectable hepatic tumors. It can also be implemented in rare scenarios of a blunt abdominal trauma. Kidney autotransplantation is a method of a nephron-sparing renal tumor excision or complex renal artery aneurysm management. The uses of ''ex vivo'' surgery followed by autotransplantation were reported also for heart, lungs and intestines, including multivisceral approaches.

References

{{transfusion medicine Transfusion medicine Orthopedic surgical procedures Transplantation medicine

Autologous blood donation

Bone autograft

Organ autotransplantation

See also

References