Cultural and Religious Aspects of Heart Transplantation

Abstract

Organ donation and transplantation has always had an important social, cultural, and religious component apart from the scientific component. Organ dona-tion for heart transplantation also entails the fact that since ancient times the heart has been considered a central organ of the body. Different religions and cultures have been adapting and accepting the donation of organs for transplantation, and espe-cially cardiac donation, as a singular, acceptable fact, since they not only achieve a significant benefit for the recipient of the heart transplant, but also enable their survival. This chapter discusses the most important cultural and religious positions in the world regarding heart donation for transplantation, including Islamic, Buddhist, Chinese, and Catholic perspectives. Anyway, further studies and research should be conducted to determine the other religions’ perspectives regarding the procedure.