16 Patients Involved in Kidney Swap at Northwestern

Chicago - A total of 16 people -- eight donors and eight recipients -- took part in a landmark kidney transplant chain over a period of several days at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Commonly referred to as a domino paired kidney exchange, or a closed-chain transplant, the surgery was the largest of its kind performed at Northwestern and among the largest ever in the country, according to a release from the hospital.

The 16 surgeries took place over the course of three days -- Thursday, Friday and Monday, according to a hospital spokeswoman -- and required the efforts of six transplant surgeons and more than 40 additional clinical staff. The patients ranged in age from 26 to 67, came from four states and crossed ethnic, gender, racial and language lines.

Among the patients involved were two Roman Catholic nuns, a father and daughter from Yorkville, a sister and brother from Chicago, and a husband and wife from Champaign.

“This is an important milestone for the program, and we are happy to have brought these 16 individuals together,” Dr. Joseph Leventhal, director of the hospital’s living donor kidney transplant program, said. “We hope this transplant helps raise awareness of the powerful impact of the kindness of strangers and the importance of organ donation.”

One of the patients, Chicago resident Maria Isho, had been waiting for more than nine years for a kidney. Her body was highly sensitized, meaning it had built up antibodies in the blood, making it difficult to find a match, the release said. To stay healthy, she endured a grueling dialysis regimen which left her physically drained. Just when it seemed she would never get the transplant, she received a call saying Northwestern Memorial’s Kovler Organ Transplantation Center had found a living donor.
"About one-third of living donors who come to Northwestern are incompatible with their intended recipient,” John Friedewald, transplant nephrologist, said. "Paired exchanges are becoming more and more common, and hold great potential to expand the living donor pool.”

Friedewald, chairman of the United Network for Organ Sharing committee on paired exchange, said the organization plans to pilot a national program to get more hospitals involved.

“To think that a complete stranger stepped forward to initiate this chain is just remarkable,” Isho said. “I never lost faith, and I’m so grateful to have a second chance.”