Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Navarra
Abstract
Organ transplants do not constitute the point of arrival of bio-medical research.
but rather a point of departure aimed at successive accomplishments at base research
level or at the level of clinical applications.
Those who considered transplants to be only a surgical task destined to slow
down due to a lack of adequate immuno-biological knowledge have been surprised
by the renewed vitality of this sector and by the amount of new adquisitions reached
during these last few years. The results achieved in the branch of kidney
transplants are a clear demonstration of this therapeutic reality.
The substitution of other organs. on the other hand. is still clearly a problem
today. but looking ahead ten years, however, we can perceive the development
trend in this regard. Artificial organs, both temporary or definitive, intra-corporeal
or extracorporeal, partially biological such as the liver or completely artificial, are
being studied at an increasingly intensive pace and depth.
After the first results -which have been deceiving- we now have word of
positive results in the branch of liver and heart substitution.
In this manner the complex sector of research on lung transplant -although
still full of problems yet to be solved- sparks the interest of researchers who
are endowed with a spirit of service and perseverence.
Modern surgery has to be receptive to the adquisition of a greater amount of
data facilitated by immuno-biological, physiopathological and pharmacological research,
and integrated by the findings of bio-engineering, which are indispensible
at the present moment.
Such a task represents the updating of this sector, and includes the results
achieved by sorne of the most important research centres in the world. This task.
therefore, also constitutes an updating for all those who are interested in this
new type of surgery