Not only do donated organs add years to people’s lives, but they also improve the quality of those years. In 2024, more than 48,000 lifesaving transplants were completed from both living and deceased donors, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
“For people who have end-stage organ failure, a transplant is the only option,” adds David Klassen, MD, the chief medical officer at UNOS in Richmond, Virginia.
But how long an organ transplant lasts depends on factors such as the type of organ and the recipient’s health status. Read on for more about the complexities of donation and transplantation — whether it’s a kidney or, more rarely, liver, heart, pancreas, or lung transplant.
How Long Do Organ Transplants Last?
Transplanting a healthy organ to replace a diseased or failed organ can prolong life, but transplants have limits. As medical technology and research advances, the longevity of organ transplants does increase.
Transplanted organs come with what’s called a “graft half-life,” or estimate of how long the organ will last. But it’s not a clear prediction — instead, it means that for every 100 transplant recipients, half the organs will last longer than the half life, and the other half won’t last that long.
Here are some graft half-lives for common organ transplants.
- Kidney transplants have a graft half-life of 10 to 13 years if the organ came from a living donor and 7 to 9 years if it was from a deceased donor.
- Liver transplants may last 5 or more years in 75 percent of recipients.
- Heart transplants typically last around 12.5 years.
- Pancreas transplants can last about 11 years when combined with a kidney transplant.
- Lungs have a graft half-life of 5 years on average, but this increases to 8 years if both lungs have been transplanted.
The end of the organ’s life doesn’t always mean the end of yours. While some organs do last a person’s lifetime, many don’t, and re-transplantation is an option for some recipients.
1. A Transplanted Organ Can Carry Hidden Disease
Organs are screened for common infections and diseases before transplant to exclude any potentially dangerous contamination. Transmitted infections are very rare — they could occur in about 1 percent of transplant cases, but are detected in far fewer.
“Donors are screened rigorously and infections can be treated well,” says Dr. Klassen. “There’s a risk-reward tradeoff, and it’s a relatively small risk,” he adds.
West Nile virus and rabies are two examples of infectious diseases that have been transmitted via organ transplantation, and Klassen adds that rare cases of cancer from transplants have also been reported.
Doctors may have full knowledge of an infection, such as hepatitis C, in the organ before it’s transplanted. “Fortunately, hepatitis C has become a curable disease within the last five years, so we can still utilize the organ of a person with hepatitis C and then treat the recipient with hepatitis C medications,” Klassen says.
2. The Financial Cost of Donating an Organ May Be Higher Than You Think
Donating an organ as a living donor can help save a life, but the process may come with surprisingly high costs: lost pay from time away from work, travel costs for surgery, and time off to recover, to name a few. Neither Medicare nor insurance may cover these expenses.
For example, living kidney donors in the United States bear out-of-pocket transplant-related estimated costs of up to $38,000.
What a living donor won’t have to pay for is anything connected to the actual transplantation surgery. The National Living Donor Assistance Program and other similar programs may help cover some donation-related expenses.
Living donors may also be eligible for sick leave and state disability under the federal Family Medical Leave Act, while federal employees, some state employees, and certain other workers may qualify for 30 days of paid leave.
3. Being a Living Donor Could Impact Your Life Insurance
Even though the Affordable Care Act ensures that you can’t be denied health insurance because you have a preexisting condition, some living donors report having a hard time finding life insurance or having to pay higher premium prices.
In those cases, the transplant center may reach out to the insurance company to inform them that as a living donor, you’re not at increased risk of death because of the donation.
4. Transplant Tourism Is Risky for Your Health and Unfair for Organ Donors
U.S. law prohibits paying people to donate organs. “It’s illegal in most countries. In some parts of the world, you can do it, but it’s risky, dangerous, and poorly regulated,” says Klassen.
Still, a lack of available organ donations globally has spawned an international organ trade. People who travel to other countries to have organ transplants may not realize that their donor could be an unwilling participant — such as a prisoner or impoverished person.
Transplant tourism makes up 10 percent of kidney transplants globally. Research also links it to less favorable outcomes and health complications for both donors and recipients.
5. A Liver Transplant Won’t Cure an Infection Like Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is one common cause of chronic liver failure, which can lead to the need for a transplant. But if you get a liver transplant, the new, healthy liver can become infected with hepatitis C once inside your body. This is because the hepatitis C virus can continue to circulate in your blood throughout your body, including your liver.
But because hepatitis C is now curable, most people can receive treatment before the transplant, says Klassen. Antiviral medications can cure hepatitis C in more than 95 percent of people with the infection.
6. If You Have Kidney Failure, Transplantation Could Be an Option
A Polish study published in May 2024 in Transplantation Proceedings found that many people on dialysis didn’t realize transplantation was an option for them even though it’s often the best method to address severe kidney failure. In fact, 41 percent of the patients reported never receiving any information or education about the option of a kidney transplant.
Even so, getting a preemptive transplant before dialysis isn’t easy to do, says Klassen, unless you have a living donor who wants to donate their kidney to you. “Usually, because of the need to wait for a donation, most people have to be on dialysis for a period of time before the transplant happens.”
7. Women Are Less Likely to Get Living-Donor Transplants
Although women are more often living donors than men, they are less likely than men to be the recipient of living donor kidneys. Globally, women make up fewer than 40 percent of living-donor kidney recipients, while they account for about 60 percent of living kidney donors.
One reason for the discrepancy is biological: “With kidney transplants, a limiting factor for women is that after they’ve had children, their immune system is more sensitized, which makes it harder to find a match,” explains Klassen.
Klassen notes that the matching system gives people with a highly sensitive immune system a boost in the rankings. And research notes certain therapies that target hormone receptors may help make up for the difference between men and women in the future.
8. Weight Can Affect Whether You Receive a Transplant
Your transplant center or doctor may ask you to bring your body mass index (BMI) down to 35 or less. BMI isn’t an accurate measure of health for everyone. So what’s the reasoning? The surgical risk tends to go up for people with obesity, says Klassen, and it can be harder to do transplants in this group.
Keep in mind that more physicians are becoming aware of the need for holistic support for people with obesity in need of a kidney transplant. Some centers may connect you with dietary and mental health resources as well as weight loss surgery options before transplantation.
9. How Long You Wait May Depend on Where You Live
The wait for an organ can take days or years, and doctors can’t predict the timing for any individual case. The average wait time for a kidney transplant, for example, is 3 to 5 years, but it depends on when an organ becomes available and whether it’s the right fit for your blood type and body.
Where you live is also a critical factor. “For some parts of the country, such as California and dense urban areas, the waiting times are longer,” explains Klassen.
Additionally, in the United States, people in the Southeast have some of the lowest kidney transplantation rates, while people living in the Midwest, Mountain West, and New England are more likely to receive a transplant.
The Takeaway
- All organ transplants have a “graft half-life,” meaning that out of 100 transplants, half of the organs will stop working before that time and half will exceed it.
- Organs, such as kidneys, lungs, and livers, have different half-lives.
- Retransplantation may be an option when an organ transplant fails.
- Your BMI, sex, and whether you have any chronic infections, as well as where you live, can all affect whether you receive an organ transplant and how successful it is.
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