lier generation of antirejection drugs had been ini-
tially developed for use in cancer chemotherapy and
were too toxic for more than limited application. In
1983, cyclosporine was approved for use by the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA). Discovered in the
1970’s, cyclosporine represented the first antirejec-
tion drug with wide application for the transplanta-
tion field because of its specificity and limited toxic-
ity. The success rate for kidney transplantation as
well as other organs showed an immediate increase.
The maintaining of organs once they had been
removed from the donor but prior to their actual im-
plantation in a recipient was also a problem. Cold
saline solutions had been helpful. Researchers at
the University of Wisconsin developed an improved
isotonic solution, known as UW solution, that was
shown to be more effective than other solutions in
maintaining organs in a viable state. Marketed as
Viaspan, the solution received FDA approval in 1988
for preservation of donated livers. Viaspan subse-
quently was found to be equally effective for preser-
vation of other organs and tissues.
Establishment of Transplant Networks In 1968, the
Uniform Anatomical Gift Act was passed by Con-
gress, establishing the use of a “donor card” as a
means to allow a person or family to request organ
donation upon death; the definition of “death” was
later more firmly clarified to mean “brain death”
(1978). However, a legitimate concern was whether
this law would result in a “market” for organs, one
producing both a “seller” and a recipient, or “buyer.”
In 1984, Congress passed the National Organ Trans-
plant Act, which prohibited the sale of organs for use
in transplantation. The result was the Organ Pro-
curement and Transplantation Network, which two
years later was placed under the auspices of the
United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). Among
the duties of the UNOS was the maintenance of a na-
tional registry of potential recipients, the number of
which subsequently grew to nearly 100,000 persons
within two decades. No cost for the organ was to be
passed to the recipient. In 1986, a “routine request”
law required hospitals to discuss organ transplanta-
tion with families under appropriate circumstances.
Impact During the 1980’s, a number of develop-
ments in organ transplantation allowed for not only
a greater increase in such procedures but also (cou-
pled with improvements in medical technology) a
much wider range in the types of surgeries that
could be safely carried out. The first cornea trans-
plant, one of the first types of transplant surgery, was
successfully carried out in 1905; kidney transplanta-
tions, first between twins and then between unre-
lated individuals, had been carried out since the
1950’s. Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine were
awarded in 1990 to two of the pioneers in this area,
Joseph Murray and E. Donnall Thomas. The 1980’s
saw the transplantation of organs previously thought
to be too complex for such procedures, such as the
lungs or liver. Even heart transplants became more
common, though hardly yet routine.Further Reading
Brent, Leslie.A Histor y of Transplantation Immunology.
San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press, 1997. Focuses
on the early (pre-1980) history of the subject. The
impact of immunosuppressive drugs such as cy-
closporine is described.
Murphy, Kenneth.Janeway’s Immunobiology.7th ed.
New York: Garland Science, 2007. Classical text-
book on the subject of immunology. An extensive
portion addresses transplantation genetics and
immunity.
Roitt, Ivan, et al.Roitt’s Essential Immunology.11th ed.
Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Science, 2006. Several
chapters in this textbook address the subject of
immunology. Includes a large number of photo-
graphs.
Veatch, Robert.Transplantation Ethics.Washington,
D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2000. Ad-
dresses issues such as the definition of death,
sources of organ procurement, and questions re-
lated to organ allocation.
Richard AdlerSee also Cancer research; Fetal medicine; Genet-
ics research; Medicine.Trivial Pursuit
Definition Trivia board gameA serious fad among baby boomers in the early 1980’s, Triv-
ial Pursuit helped revive sales of adult-oriented board
games and was a good example of the use of word-of-mouth
advertising.Created by two Canadian reporters in the 1970’s,
Trivial Pursuit was first made available for sale in theThe Eighties in America Trivial Pursuit 983