PERSONAL HEALTH : Need Goes Beyond Organ Donations

The need for organ donors is well-known, thanks to dramatic stories of lives saved because generous people willed their hearts, kidneys or other vital organs. Less well-known is the need for other human tissue--such as bone, skin, ligaments, tendons and heart valves.

Every year, about 400,000 Americans receive some type of human tissue transplant, says Barbara Wilks of the American Red Cross, Los Angeles. Donated tissue can correct a variety of problems. In the past year:

* A bone transplant corrected curvature of the spine in a 15-year-old Pasadena girl.

* A heart valve transplant was given to a 22-year-old Torrance man.

* A 16-year-old girl at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles received a skin graft to correct skin loss caused by circulatory problems.

* A 19-year-old Northridge man received a bone graft after a neck fracture.

Before donated tissue is used, it is tested for hepatitis, syphilis and HIV, according to the Red Cross. It is also screened for cancer or other conditions that could put the recipients at risk of disease.

Those interested in becoming a tissue donor can get information or a donor card from the Red Cross Tissue Services, (800) 272-5287. It’s also vital, Wilks says, that donors communicate their wishes to family members, who have the final say.