December 19, 2024
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Comprehensive Transplant Center set a new institution transplant record, performing a synchronized chain of 20 surgeries to transform the lives of ten people in need of a kidney transplant.
The single institution living kidney donor transplant chain took place over two days. Five donor and five recipient surgeries were performed on each day. Surgeons transplanted healthy kidneys from 10 different donors into 10 recipients who could have waited years for a transplant.
“This is one of the country’s largest single institution living kidney donor transplant chains completed in one week,” said Kenneth Washburn, MD, executive director of the Comprehensive Transplant Center and director of the Division of Transplantation Surgery at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. “Big chains like this one allow us to help a large number of patients in a short period of time. The resources needed to complete an event such as this is a testament to the commitment of the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center to enhancing and extending patient’s lives through organ transplantation.”
Paired kidney donation happens when a person in need of a kidney has a living donor that's not a compatible blood or tissue match. The transplant team then links incompatible donor/recipient pairs with other incompatible donor/recipient pairs to form a chain, so each recipient receives a compatible organ. The transplant swap begins with an altruistic non-directed donor. The final recipient is a person on the transplant waitlist.
The transplant team began planning for this chain in October. Once the living donors and recipients were identified, the coordinators worked closely with the patients to keep the chain intact. A change in health status as simple as a cold or fever could have broken the exchange.
Amer Rajab, MD, PhD, surgical director of kidney transplantation and clinical professor of surgery at Ohio State College of Medicine, led the 10-way transplant chain and performed six of the donor surgeries.
“People with kidney failure can live for a long time on dialysis, but the treatment can be hard on the body and limit quality of life,” Rajab said. “Once the organ transplant is complete and the new kidney starts working, time and time again our patients tell me how good they feel. This is thanks to our donors, our heroes.”
In addition to Rajab, surgeons involved in the 20-person chain include Washburn; Musab Alebrahim, MD; Ashley Limkemann, MD; Sai Rithin Punjala, MBBS; Austin Schenk, MD, PhD; and Navdeep Singh, MBBS.
According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, there are 104,840 people on the transplant waitlist and 90,506 need a kidney. 2,079 of them live in Ohio. This 10-way transplant chain is believed to be one of the largest single institution chains in the nation.
“This kidney chain removed ten patients from the transplant waitlist, which will hopefully shorten the wait for others,” Rajab said. “More living kidney donors are needed so we can help additional people. Living donation is safe and our donors go on to live very full lives.”
Ohio State’s Comprehensive Transplant Center is one of the busiest kidney transplant centers in the United States, having performed more than 8,500 kidney transplants since 1967.
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Media Contact: Serena Smith, Wexner Medical Center Media Relations, Serena.Smith@osumc.edu