**Alexander A. Vitin, MD, PhD**

Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

> Director, Transplant Anesthesia, UW Medical Center, USA

**1**

Section 1

Introduction

Section 1 Introduction

**3**

**Chapter 1**

**1. Overview**

current trend.

*Alexander A. Vitin*

Introductory Chapter: Tour De

Force of Transplantation Science

As one of the relatively young, yet already well-established medical disciplines, transplantation medicine encompasses a wide variety of clinical subspecialties. The concept of failing organ replacement with the donor's or an artificial one has found its way into literally every clinical field, where one or multiple organ insufficiency and eventual failure are concerned. Ever-increasing number of the patients on the waiting lists, rapidly growing demand for donor organs, already well-proved efficiency of organ transplantation as an ultimate treatment for end-stage organs' failure, and ever-expanding infrastructure of transplantation industry are factors promoting the explosive growth of the transplantation industry. The foundation of this industry rests on two pillars: transplantation medicine and transplantation science, with substantial overlapping and blurred boundaries. The sheer immensity of transplantation industry may be best illustrated by very impressive statistics and

At present, organ and tissue transplantation procedures of any kind are being performed in more than 111 countries, which cover about 81% of world population, and new countries are joining this club every year. Close to 140,000 organs are being transplanted every year worldwide. According to most recently published OPTN data (May 22, 2019), in the USA alone during the period of 31 years (from January 11, 1988 to April 30, 2019), close to half million (451,847, to be precise) kidney, 166,383 liver, 73,216 heart, 38,989 lung, 23,959 kidney-pancreas, and numerous other organ transplantations have been performed in more than 80 transplant programs, and the exponential increase of these numbers constitutes the

Fifteen international and more than 140 local/countrywide organizations in more than 111 countries are incessantly doing a great job in coordinating efforts in the areas of research promotion, development, and improvement of practical aspects of organ donation and transplantation process. Dozens of scientific meetings in many countries worldwide provide stage for scientists and physicians to

Ever since the very first successful solid organ transplants (1954, first successful kidney transplant; 1967, first successful liver and heart transplants), transplantation science remains in the state of rapid exponential growth. Physicians and researchers from literally every imaginable specialty are getting more and more involved in transplantation medicine, which long ago overgrew the boundaries of one particular medical specialty and became a whole new field of medical science. Results of clinical and experimental research provide a plenty of material for myriad publications worldwide every year. There are easily more than 75 periodic issues, among which are more than 40 high-impact journals, publishing results

present results of research, share experience, and exchange opinions.

facts, accomplishments, and ongoing research trends [1–5].
