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UCLA Medical Center performs its first
living donor Kidney ‘Swap’
Newswise — UCLA Medical
Center on Sept. 20 performed its first
living donor kidney “swap,” a procedure in
which a loved one of a kidney transplant
patient who is not compatible as a donor
exchanges organs with another incompatible
pair under an innovative new paired donation
program. UCLA aims to lead the way for other
Southern California transplant centers to
adopt this life-enhancing procedure.
The program seeks to
address the acute shortage of organs by
enlarging the pool of living donors who want
to donate a kidney to a family member or
friend but can’t due to issues such as
incompatible blood types. With so many
people waiting for so few available organs,
patients can wait up to six years for a
cadaver kidney transplant. Nearly 16,000
people are on the kidney transplant waiting
list in California, according to statistics
from the United Network for Organ Sharing.
Here’s the way the UCLA
exchange worked: Tiffany Furuya wanted to
donate a kidney to her father, Kazuyuki
Furuya, and Jason Williams wanted to give
one to his mother, Stella Williams. But
neither Tiffany nor Jason were compatible
matches with their respective parents.
However, the UCLA transplant team found that
Tiffany was a match for Stella and Jason was
compatible with Kazuyuki. Both families were
willing and met for the first time after
surgery.
In a twist to the
story, Kazuyuki Furuya was offered a
deceased donor kidney a few weeks before the
exchange was to take place, so Tiffany would
not have had to donate her kidney. But she
insisted on going through with the procedure
so the deceased donor kidney would remain
available to help another person who did not
have a live donor.
Thus, three people were
untethered from dialysis machines — and
given an improved quality of life.
UCLA has one of the world’s most active
kidney transplant programs and has
introduced a number of innovations,
including the first paired kidney donation
program in Southern California, said Dr.
Albin Gritsch, associate professor of
urology and surgical director of the kidney
transplantation program.
“We hope that this
procedure will improve the availability of
organs for thousands of patients with
end-stage renal disease who would benefit
from a transplant,” he said.
Very few paired kidney
donations have been performed at U.S.
transplant centers. Congress is now
considering legislation regarding paired
donations, and Medicare pays for the
procedure.
“The profession has
been slow to adopt ‘kidney swap’ procedures,
but we are hopeful that our program will
help encourage other transplant centers to
participate, which will greatly help expand
the potential donor pool,” said Dr. Jeffrey
Veale, an assistant professor of urology
specializing in renal transplantation at the
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Many people would like
to give a kidney to a loved one but are
often disappointed when they learn they are
not a match. The UCLA program offers a
viable option for patients which will also
help another family.
“The paired donation
procedure permits donors who would otherwise
be unable to help their loved one to do so
in a manner that helps other people as
well,” said Dr. Gabriel Danovitch, professor
of medicine in the UCLA Division of
Nephrology and medical director of the UCLA
kidney and pancreas transplantation program.
The program seeks to
address the acute shortage of organs by
enlarging the pool of living donors who want
to donate a kidney to a family member or
friend but can’t due to issues such as
incompatible blood types. With so many
people waiting for so few available organs,
patients can wait up to six years for a
cadaver kidney transplant. Nearly 16,000
people are on the kidney transplant waiting
list in California, according to statistics
from the United Network for Organ Sharing.
Here’s the way the UCLA
exchange worked: Tiffany Furuya wanted to
donate a kidney to her father, Kazuyuki
Furuya, and Jason Williams wanted to give
one to his mother, Stella Williams. But
neither Tiffany nor Jason were compatible
matches with their respective parents.
However, the UCLA transplant team found that
Tiffany was a match for Stella and Jason was
compatible with Kazuyuki. Both families were
willing and met for the first time after
surgery.
In a twist to the
story, Kazuyuki Furuya was offered a
deceased donor kidney a few weeks before the
exchange was to take place, so Tiffany would
not have had to donate her kidney. But she
insisted on going through with the procedure
so the deceased donor kidney would remain
available to help another person who did not
have a live donor.
Thus, three people were
untethered from dialysis machines — and
given an improved quality of life.
UCLA has one of the world’s most active
kidney transplant programs and has
introduced a number of innovations,
including the first paired kidney donation
program in Southern California, said Dr.
Albin Gritsch, associate professor of
urology and surgical director of the kidney
transplantation program.
“We hope that this
procedure will improve the availability of
organs for thousands of patients with
end-stage renal disease who would benefit
from a transplant,” he said.
Very few paired kidney
donations have been performed at U.S.
transplant centers. Congress is now
considering legislation regarding paired
donations, and Medicare pays for the
procedure.
“The profession has
been slow to adopt ‘kidney swap’ procedures,
but we are hopeful that our program will
help encourage other transplant centers to
participate, which will greatly help expand
the potential donor pool,” said Dr. Jeffrey
Veale, an assistant professor of urology
specializing in renal transplantation at the
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Many people would like
to give a kidney to a loved one but are
often disappointed when they learn they are
not a match. The UCLA program offers a
viable option for patients which will also
help another family.
“The paired donation
procedure permits donors who would otherwise
be unable to help their loved one to do so
in a manner that helps other people as
well,” said Dr. Gabriel Danovitch, professor
of medicine in the UCLA Division of
Nephrology and medical director of the UCLA
kidney and pancreas transplantation program.
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