When should transplants not be performed?

A candidate for limb allografts should be somebody who could gain the most and for whom the associated risks are lowest, say Benatar and Hudson (p 971). They discuss two cases in which surgeons decided not to perform limb allografts---one in a boy of 3 with no hands, the other a girl of 4 with no hands or feet. Costs to health and cumulative lifetime risks of immunosuppression are substantial and do not always outweigh functional benefits.
 
(Credit: JV2/SPL)



Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Related Article

A tale of two novel transplants not done: the ethics of limb allografts
David Benatar and Don A Hudson
BMJ 2002 324: 971-973. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Student BMJ

Intimate examinations

Israeli students are refusing to perform intimate examinations on anaesthetised women without their informed consent.

www.student.bmj.com

Listen to the latest BMJ Interview