Kidney chain results in five transplants

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Kidney chain results in five transplants

Five patients got kidneys in a chain of operations, the first swap of this complexity in Minnesota.

By JOSEPHINE MARCOTTY, Star Tribune

Last update: July 22, 2010 - 11:00 AM

An anonymous kidney donor last week launched a chain of 10 surgeries and five transplants at three hospitals in Minnesota and North Dakota.

Though such exchanges have occurred in other states, this is the first time that such a complex kidney swap took place in Minnesota, long a leader in kidney transplantation. The transplant chain included two surgeries at Sanford Health Medical Center in Fargo, four at Abbott Northwestern Hospital and four at University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, both in Minneapolis.

None of the hospitals involved would identify the donors or recipients, citing ethical policies on identifying organ donors.

Kidney exchanges still are in their infancy. They require a pool of donors who are willing to give their kidney to anyone who needs it. In exchange, their loved ones or friends receive kidneys from other strangers.

They require a sophisticated computer program to match blood and tissue types and other factors specific to each patient.

Minnesota hospitals only now are beginning to participate. Earlier this year, Hennepin County Medical Center did a two-way swap with a donor and patient in Maryland. In November, the Mayo Clinic did a four-way swap among three kidney patients at the Rochester clinic and one at its Arizona clinic.

In the past two years, transplant centers in other states have done several hundred such paired exchanges. Late last year, the organization that manages the national transplant system for the federal government launched a pilot program that eventually could create a nationwide matching system.

If such pools become common, they could save millions of dollars in medical costs and end the ordeal facing many of the 80,000 kidney patients on the nation's transplant list, often waiting five years or more for an organ from a deceased donor.

Josephine Marcotty • 612-673-7394

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