Twenty-Eight Kidney Transplant Recipients and Counting! One Center's Kidney Transplant Chain Experience

Area of Science:

• Nephrology
• Transplant Surgery
• Organ Donation

Background:

• Over 101,000 individuals are on the kidney transplant waiting list.
• A significant shortage of donor organs limits transplantation opportunities.
• Innovative strategies are crucial to increase the number of kidney transplants.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a transplant center's experience with living donor paired exchanges and donor swaps.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of these programs in expanding donor organ availability.
• To highlight a successful kidney transplant chain facilitated by these methods.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of living donor paired exchange programs.
• Facilitation of donor swaps between incompatible donor-recipient pairs.
• Coordination of a multi-recipient transplant chain.

Main Results:

• A chain of 28 kidney transplant recipients was successfully completed in one year.
• Living donor paired exchanges and donor swaps significantly increased donor organ utilization.
• The center demonstrated the feasibility of large-scale altruistic donor chains.

Conclusions:

• Living donor paired exchanges and donor swaps are effective strategies to overcome donor organ shortages.
• These programs can create substantial kidney transplant chains, benefiting numerous recipients.
• Transplant centers should consider adopting and expanding these innovative donation models.