National Kidney Registry Announces Results of Recent Match Runs

National Kidney Registry Announces Results of Recent Match Runs Where the First Perfect Matches Were Found Among Strangers

Feb 04, 2008 16:30 ET

Today, at a presentation to the leadership of the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) supporting the paired exchange initiative, Garet Hil, Founder of the National Kidney Registry, announced the results of recent match runs using donor chain matching. Combining donors and recipients from 6 transplant centers, BestMatch, the Registry's donor chain matching software, identified two perfect six antigen matches between strangers. Studies show that perfectly matched living donor kidneys add 10 years to the expected half-life of the transplanted kidney.

Analyzing the current Registry pool of 76 recipients, paired with 120 incompatible donors, 39 transplant opportunities were identified. All of the transplants were well matched on both HLA and age criteria. The majority of the matches identified by the system were more compatible than is typical between a parent and child.

"We are not surprised by the results of the recent match runs given the enormous mathematical advantages of donor chain matching over traditional paired exchange matching. The advantages of donor chain matching improve with larger pools because the number of possible transplants evaluated increases geometrically with linear increases in pool size. We are committed to working with UNOS to deliver these enhanced compatibility benefits to all people facing kidney failure," said Garet Hil, Founder of the Registry.

"Best Match has the potential to revolutionize living donor transplants. The results of the latest match runs, including identification of perfect six antigen matches between strangers, have exceeded our expectations in this early developmental stage," said Rich Marta, the senior engineer leading the BestMatch development project.

About the National Kidney Registry

The National Kidney Registry is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization with a mission to save and improve the lives of people facing kidney failure by increasing the quality, speed, and number of living donor transplants in the world.

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