New Procedure Allows Kidney Transplants from Any Donor

[scrabble]

I was an anonymous living donor who kicked off a donation chain. I don't think it's a big deal. Recovery sucked for a couple weeks, but when you consider the benefit alongside the developments occurring in medicine all the time, it's almost nothing.

This is fantastic news. People should not need to die while being stuck on a waiting list. Super happy to see this news today.

[than]

It's so amazing that it works! (Donor here as well.) I would love to see the support system expanded. Even with the recipient's insurance footing the bill for the surgery, there's still a significant burden on donors to be able to provide the time off to do the transplant in many cases.

I'm starting with my own state to help find ways to lower that threshold for potential donors here: https://www.change.org/p/minnesota-state-house-give-minnesot...

[pmarsh]

Thanks for being a donor, much appreciated by those who were given a new life and their families.

[shard972]

Just curious, is their similar restrictions to donating organs as there is to donating blood? Such as homosexuality?

[esturk]

The procedure is called 'Desensitization' where they filter out the existing antibodies in the patient's blood, and then infused external antibodies for protection while the body regenerates new ones. Then the strange part is the new antibodies are less likely to attack the donated organs which results in more available donors for patients.

The procedure is $30k, but in the long run is cheaper than $70k for dialysis every year. The life expectancy appears to be longer than using cadaver organs.

[toomuchtodo]

This, along with the new cataracts surgery that no longer requires an artificial lens be inserted (the cataract is removed, and stem cells are used to grow a new lens within your body), makes it feel like there is such velocity in biomedical research right now. Exciting times!

[simcop2387]

That's really neat, does the procedure work with other organs too? I think something similar happens with bone marrow transplants when they kill all of the original marrow too doesn't it (not by design but by the nature of what you're doing).

[spenuke]

The Dr. Segev mentioned in the article is an awesome guy. His wife Dr. Sommer Gentry is an operations research professor, and they worked together on this stuff.

Here's a fun and educational video they did on the math behind transplant matching. If you are interested in integer programming or real world combinatorics, check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttMQECKQ3DQ

[elviejo]

Very nice video. Thanks

[ars]

I wonder if the person looses all acquired immunity - for example do they need to be revaccinated for childhood illnesses?

Just a shot in the dark: Would this help autoimmune illnesses?

[rcthompson]

No, immune memory is provided by memory T cells and B cells. Losing all your antibodies but nothing else would only leave you temporarily immune-compromised until your body has a chance to replenish its supply.

[dnautics]

Interesting. Dr Dorry Segev is a personal acquaintance! He also was involved in getting congressional approval for HIV+ -> HIV+ transplants (which were technically illegal till recently).

[jordigh]

I just finished reading Parasite Eve. While the horror aspects of the novel are questionable, I found it was a very interesting way to learn about kidney transplants and mitochondrias. I had no idea, for example, that even with a compatible donor the recipients have to take immunosupressants for the rest of their lives and are always at risk of rejecting the organ.

So, it's really amazing to hear that this could be a thing of the past!

[xuhu]

What's the difference between the 62.9 and the 43.9 groups mentioned in the article ? They're both "on the waiting list".

"After eight years, 76.5 percent of those who received an incompatible kidney were still alive, compared with 62.9 percent who remained on the waiting list or received a deceased donor kidney and 43.9 percent who remained on the waiting list but never got a transplant."

[blisterpeanuts]

More people survived after getting the immunity suppression treatment and a kidney transplant than those who only got a transplant. More of both groups survived than did those who never got a transplant.

[andrewfromx]

sounds like a new website that matches, those people in society that truly want to give a kidney to a stranger for nothing but alturistic reasons, and people who need kidneys would work. Like ebay for kidneys but less crass than that. You could really market it just right to apeal to everyone's good side, be an angle etc.

[nommm-nommm]

You mean an organ registry? That exists already.