Patient Avoids Dialysis Through Simultaneous Polycystic Kidney Removal and Kidney Transplant During 28-Person Kidney Swap

NEWSWISE | University of Maryland Medical Center

Newswise — Baltimore, Md. – June 27, 2016 – In a first-of-its-kind procedure in the United States, a patient was able to avoid dialysis when surgeons simultaneously removed two diseased kidneys and also transplanted a kidney from a living donor – all as part of a 28-person univer. The procedure, performed in May on a patient with polycystic kidney disease (PKD), eliminated the need for the patient to ever undergo dialysis.

“We worked closely with the National Kidney Registry, which coordinated the 28-person swap that led to a compatible living donor for our patient,” says David B. Leeser, MD, associate professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) and chief of kidney and pancreas transplant at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), who developed the plan. “On the day of the transplant, we removed our patient’s two large kidneys, weighing 10 pounds each, precisely timing our procedure with the hospital that was providing the donor kidney, so our patient was able to avoid dialysis.”

The recipient’s wife was unable to donate a kidney to her husband, due to incompatible blood types. Because kidneys from living donors have better outcomes than those from deceased donors, a kidney swap was the only option for him to get a living donor kidney. As part of the PKE, the patient’s wife donated a kidney to another patient, continuing the chain.

“The success of the procedure was even more dramatic because the UMMC pair was the key to fast-track repair for this swap that involved 28 surgeries over a three-week window,” says Garet Hil, CEO of the National Kidney Registry (NKR). “These kinds of bold and complex breakthroughs are what we have come to expect from NKR member centers that are always looking to find new ways to improve the lives of patients suffering from kidney failure.” Continue reading

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