donor
(dō'nŏr 
)
[Fr. doneur, fr. L., donator, giver, donor]
- A person or animal that furnishes blood, tissue, or an organ to be used in another person.
- In chemistry, a compound that frees part of itself to unite with another compound called an acceptor.
ABBR: AID
A male who provides sperm to be used to fertilize a woman seeking to become pregnant.blood d.One who gives blood (or its components) to be used for transfusion. In the U.S., more than 9 million people donate blood to others after careful screening for transmissible diseases, which might pose a threat to blood recipients, and for illnesses, such as iron deficiency, which may make blood donation hazardous to the donor. People with a hemoglobin less than 12.5 g/dL are excluded from donating blood.
deceased d.One who donates an organ or tissue after his or her death. SYN: cadaveric donor.
directed d.A family member, friend, or significant other who gives blood, an organ, or tissue to another person to support a vital function or prevent death.
expand ed-criteria directed d.An organ donor who is over 60 or who is over 50 and has high blood pressure, a history of stroke, or a serum creatinine of 1.5 or more. Kidneys from such donors are primarily transplanted into older recipients.
heart-beating directed d.In organ transplantation, an organ donor whose circulatory functions are intact, but who has no detectable brain function.
HLA-mismatched related d.Mismatched related donor.
human leukocyte antigen matched unrelated d.Matched unrelated donor.
hydrogen d.In oxidation-reduction reactions, a substance that gives up hydrogen atoms to another substance, the acceptor.
SEE: hydrogen acceptor.
living d.One who donates an organ or tissue while he or she is still living. Living donors must be healthy and antigenically matched to the recipient.
ABBR: MUD
One who donates an organ or tissue (such as bone marrow stem cells) to another person with human leukocyte antigens identical to those of the organ recipient. SYN: human leukocyte antigen matched unrelated donor.ABBR: MMRD
An organ or tissue donor who is a family member of the organ recipient but whose human leukocyte antigens are not identical to those of the recipient. In general, in organ transplantation, organ and recipient survival are highest when the donor and the recipient share the same HLA antigens. SYN: HLA-mismatched related donor.nondirected d.A person who donates blood, an organ, or tissue to the community at large and is unknown to the recipient.
related HLA-identical d.Related identical donor.
ABBR: RID
A family member who donates an organ or tissue (such as a kidney or bone marrow stem cells) to another family member who shares perfectly matched human leukocyte antigens. Organ transplantations from RIDs have higher success rates than transplants obtained from mismatched related donors (MMRDs) or from matched unrelated donors (MUDs). SYN: related HLA-identical donor.universal d.A person who has group O red blood cells. In a life-threatening emergency, this person's cells can be transfused into any patient in need of red blood cells.