Incompatible donors can do a kidney swap

Incompatible donors can do a kidney swap

By KIM ARCHER - Tulsa World Staff Writer

1/29/2007

Both of Ryan Morris' parents are willing to donate a kidney for him.

Trouble is, neither is blood-type compatible.

After a year and a half of waiting for a kidney on the traditional transplant list and getting dialysis three times a week the entire time, the 20-year-old Morris has been feeling more hopeful lately.

"I've had a couple of close calls since I've been on the waiting list. My parents were extremely frustrated. It was a shame they didn't match, because they're both perfectly healthy," Morris said.

His new hope lies in a kind of kidney swap meet.

St. Francis Hospital's Kidney Program has joined the Southwest Paired Donor Consortium, a regional kidney exchange program that soon will begin operations among transplant centers in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana.

Basically, the program allows two kidney recipients to swap willing donors. While the donors are willing to donate their kidneys, they are incompatible with their intended recipient due to blood type or other factors.

"I'm extremely excited. It's just a world of hope for people like me," Morris said.

Morris had planned to attend college to get a business degree after graduating from Owasso High School. But when he was 18, doctors found his kidneys were failing and had shrunk too small for them to perform a biopsy to find out why. He immediately was put on dialysis for three four-hour sessions a week.

"It's really put a big hold on my life," he said.

As soon as the consortium begins operation, Morris and one of his parents will be entered into the regional pool of prospects, where he hopes to find a donor with a compatible kidney.

"I think I have a lot better chance of getting a younger kidney and a stronger kidney, and I think it will happen sooner," he said.

The consortium is the newest of a handful of regional paired exchange programs forming throughout the country. The paired exchange program is part of an effort to speed the process of procuring a kidney for those who need them by finding matches with living donors, said Trish Farmer, clinical manager for the St. Francis Kidney Program.

"Part of the problem is the number of good donors is down. And there aren't enough deceased donors," she said.

On a typical kidney transplant waiting list, recipients are matched with organs from deceased donors based on how long they are on the list and if a good match is found. It can be a long, painstaking process.

But in a paired exchange, the wait can be shorter.

"The interesting thing is, the more pairs you have in it, the greater the chance you have to match up a patient with a donor," Farmer said.

As of Monday, 69,708 Americans were on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. On average, 3,000 Americans die each year waiting for a kidney transplant, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"The goal (of paired exchange programs) is to increase the number of transplants we can provide," Farmer said. "And we know that living donor transplants function better and last longer. It's a better option."

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Kim Archer 581-8315
kim.archer@tulsaworld.com

URL: http://www.tulsaworld.com/NewsStory.asp?ID=070129_Ne_A17_Incom12145