When Is It Appropriate to Put a Live Donor at Risk to Help Another Patient?

Anjay Khandelwal

doi:10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.6.cscm2-1806

When Is It Appropriate to Put a Live Donor at Risk to Help Another Patient?

AMA J Ethics. 2018 Jun 1;20(1):537-545. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.6.cscm2-1806.

Author

Anjay Khandelwal¹

Affiliation

¹ The director of the Comprehensive Burn Care Center and the co-director of the Institute of Burn Ethics at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, and an assistant professor of surgery and bioethics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

PMID: 29905131
DOI: 10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.6.cscm2-1806

Abstract

This article considers the nature and scope of ethical decision making in monozygotic sibling (MZS) skin grafting. Although rare, identical twin-to-twin skin grafting has been reported with excellent survival rates in burn patients. Of 16 cases published to date, only a few address the ethical decision making process that is involved with monozygotic sibling skin grafting; this article discusses clinical indications and ethical challenges.

MeSH terms

Burns / surgery
Decision Making / ethics*
Donor Selection / ethics*
Ethics, Medical*
Helping Behavior
Humans
Living Donors / ethics*
Risk
Siblings*
Skin Transplantation / ethics*
Twins, Monozygotic*