Donor Kidney Need Not Be Match for Recipient

Data have demonstrated that by filtering kidney patients' blood of antibodies that would reject a donor kidney, transplant surgeons have been 93% successful in transplanting kidneys between any two people regardless of blood type or prior exposure to their tissue type. The data were presented at the American Transplant Congress in Washington, DC (USA).

The technique was developed by transplant surgeons at Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, MD, USA; www.hopkinsmedicine.org). Transplant patients previously had to have a compatible blood type donor, since their natural antibodies would destroy an organ from a donor with a different blood type. Now, due to filtering the blood of antibodies and giving transplant patients medication to prevent the antibodies from returning, a match is no longer needed. This combined treatment has been successful for patients who were considered "ABO incompatible,” meaning their blood type differed from their donors, as well as for patients who are sensitized to proteins in their donor's tissue from exposure to these factors during previous transplants, blood transfusions, or pregnancies.

Since the program began at Johns Hopkins in 1998, 29 patients have enrolled. Five had incompatible blood types with their donors, and 24 had incompatible tissue proteins. Now, an average of 17 months after surgery, 27 of the transplanted kidneys are functioning well, showing normal levels of creatinine, a measure of kidney function. Another initiative at Hopkins is an altruistic donor program, where anyone who comes forward to offer a kidney will be matched to a recipient and a paired kidney transplant program.

"Many of these patients have repeatedly been told there is no hope of ever receiving a kidney transplant,” said Robert A. Montgomery, M.D., lead author of the study and assistant professor of surgery. "With this innovation, I can tell any patients who have a live donor and are medically eligible that they can be transplanted with a high likelihood of success.”




Related Links:
Johns Hopkins