Haemodialysis
A type of dialysis where toxins are removed directly from your bloodstream.
Hepaticojejunostomy
During a liver transplant, the main bile duct coming out of the donated liver is joined with your main bile duct. Sometimes, it is not possible to join the two tubes directly. In these cases, a loop of the recipient's small intestine is joined to the main donor bile duct to allow bile to drain from the transplanted liver. This is called a hepaticojejunostomy.
HLA mismatch
The kidney transplant team will know about the antigens in your tissues (‘tissue type’) and will know how similar your tissue type is to the donor’s. For some patients, especially younger patients who are likely to need more than one transplant in their life, it’s important to have a close match between the donor’s tissue type and the recipient’s. For other patients, especially older patients who are less likely to need a second kidney transplant, this is less important. Modern immune suppressing medications mean that organ transplant rejection is less likely that it used to be. The HLA mismatch is important for kidney transplants, but is much less important for other types of transplant.
Immune system
Your immune system’s job is to defend your body against microbes or cells that shouldn’t be there. Unfortunately, this means your immune system will misguidedly try to protect you from the transplanted organ by attacking it. This is known as your body ‘rejecting’ the organ.
Immunosuppressants
Immunosuppressants are powerful drugs that weaken your immune system to reduce the chance of it attacking the transplanted organ. All transplant patients need to take immunosuppressants.
Intravenous drip
Also known as an IV drip. This is when a tube is placed into your vein so liquids, such as fluid or medicine, can be delivered directly into your bloodstream.
Ischaemic cholangiopathy
This is damage to the bile ducts caused by a lack of blood supply. This can happen as a result of a liver transplant.
Islets
insulin-producing cells.