Yesterday, Oct. 23, 2012, in Chicago, Northwestern Medicine transplant surgeons and physicians have reached a significant milestone with the completion of the 100th successful kidney paired donation transplant, a strategy which has enlarged the pool of kidneys available for donation for patients with a living donor who is not compatible.
Michael Abecassis, MD, chief of the division of organ transplantation, said they are proud of this accomplishment and the diligent focus to lead the way in finding innovative techniques to provide more patients the opportunity to get the transplants they need. Many times when family members want to donate, they are not matches for their loved ones. They can, however, donate their kidney to someone else who matches, and in return, their loved one receives the gift of life according to him.
A paired exchange is a possible solution for donor and recipient pairs who have certain incompatibilities including blood type and immunological differences. Paired exchange transplants are made possible when a kidney donor, who is not compatible with their intended recipient, is paired with another donor and recipient in the same situation.
Over the last four years, Northwestern's living donor kidney transplant program has grown to become one of the largest in the country, performing 636 living donor kidney transplants. This is more than any other hospital in the United States. In 2011, surgeons performed 154 living donor kidney transplants. Kidneys from living donors tend to last longer, function better and have fewer complications than organs from deceased donors. However, approximately one third of living donors are not a match for their intended recipient.
"In addition to kidney paired donation, Northwestern offers numerous techniques to help make living kidney donation available to donors and recipients who have mismatched blood types or immune systems," said Joseph Leventhal, MD, PhD, transplant surgeon and director of the living donor kidney program.
I thought it was amazing for a single medical team to perform 100 kidney transplant surgeries. Whether all the 100 surgeries were successful or not, I think their effort and achievement brought a great development to the field of organ transplantation and our medical area.
Paired organ transplantation is a great thing to have, especially when no one in a family can be a match. Knowing that there is still something you can do to help your family member is great because you can help someone else in hopes that there is a match for your loved one as well. I never knew this existed, I thought that if there was no match in the family you had to wait until you found a match elsewhere, no matter how long it would take. Knowing that you can help someone else who is going through the same situation as someone close to you can be just as great as a reward as helping your own loved one.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing a Grey's Anatomy episode titled "There's no "I" in Team" where Dr. Bailey and her team perform a "domino surgery" with six kidney donors and six kidney recipients. When I was watching the episode I realized how important it is to make sure that every proper step is taken to ensure the safety of the donor and the recipient. Dr. Bailey emphasizes on the fact that one small mistake can they can lose every patient, hence she referred it to as a domino surgery. Even though they were just acting I saw the intensity in their eyes, and how important it was to do the surgery correctly and carefully. That why when I ready the article you mentioned in your post, I can see how it is such a huge accomplishment for them.
ReplyDeletePaired exchange transplants are a great way to help those that are not so compatible. I think this opens up a greater opportunity for those that might think they will never get a donor. By giving someone a life who is going through the same as your loved one is just as rewarding because this gives you hope that your loved one will be helped as well. The doctor's work is definitely work worth to praise because they have worked hard and its paying off because many people's lives are being saved and nothing can make a doctor feel better than knowing that they were successful in helping someone save their life.
ReplyDeleteI am actually surprised that there have only been 100 paired-kidney transplantations, though the apparent increase in donation pool does make more sense for this. I think the availability of this amount of kidneys, and other organs, speaks well to the ability of our country to make advances in both policy and medical technology.
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