COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State University Medical Center recently conducted a rare 20-person living kidney donor transplant chain, completing 20 surgeries in two days. announced by the university.
It was a college record. Additionally, this 20-person transplant chain is believed to be one of the largest single-facility chains in the nation, Ohio State said in a news release.
The synchronous surgery was performed at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Comprehensive Transplant Center. Ohio State announced in a news release that surgeons have transplanted healthy kidneys from 10 living donors into 10 recipients in need of kidney transplants.
Five donor and five recipient surgeries were performed on each of the two days.
According to the university, a paired kidney donation is performed when a person in need of a kidney has a living donor who is not blood or tissue compatible. The transplant team links incompatible donor/recipient pairs with other incompatible donor/recipient pairs to form a chain, with each recipient receiving a compatible organ. A transplant exchange begins with a donor who has not donated a kidney, and the ultimate recipient is someone on the transplant waiting list.
“With a large chain like this, we can help a large number of patients in a short period of time,” he said. Dr. Kenneth Washburn, Executive Director of the Wexner Comprehensive Transplant Center.
The Wexner Transplant team has been planning the chain since October. Transplant coordinators worked closely with prospective donors and recipients to keep the chain intact. Ohio State said the chain would have been broken if the donor or recipient developed a cold or fever and was unable to undergo surgery.
“People with kidney failure can live long periods of time with dialysis, but the treatment is invasive and can limit their quality of life,” said Dr. said Dr. Ameer Rajab, clinical professor of surgery. of medicine. Mr. Rajab led the transplant chain and performed six of the donor surgeries.
“Once the organ transplant is complete and the new kidney starts working, patients tell me over and over again how good they feel,” Rajab said.
The Comprehensive Transplant Center of Ohio is one of the busiest kidney transplant centers in the United States, having performed more than 8,500 kidney transplants since 1967.
According to the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network, there are 104,840 people on the transplant waiting list and 90,506 people in need of a kidney. More than 2,000 of them live in Ohio.
“Thanks to this renal chain, 10 patients have been taken off the transplant waiting list. This is expected to shorten the wait for other patients,” said Dr. Rajab. “We need more living kidney donors to help even more people. Living donations are safe and our donors continue to live very fulfilling lives.”
Facts about organ and tissue donation
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
- The organs most commonly transplanted in the United States are the kidneys, liver, heart, and lungs.
- The most commonly transplanted tissues in this country are bones, tendons, ligaments, skin, heart valves, blood vessels, and corneas.
- More than 100,000 people are on organ waiting lists every day.
- In 2022, the number of organ donor deaths was approximately 15,000. On average, they each donated 2.5 organs.
- Living donors donate an average of about 6,000 organs per year.
Organizations that support organ donation
Lifebank serves Northeast Ohio As a nonprofit organ and tissue recovery organization. In addition to providing life-saving organs to transplant centers across the country, the organization works with 80 hospitals in 20 counties in Northeast Ohio.
donate life ohio We encourage Ohio residents to register for organ donation through the Ohio Donor Registry.
cleveland transplant house Provide affordable temporary housing for organ transplant patients and their families.
Julie Washington covers medical insurance cleveland.com. read Click here for the previous article.
