Eight-way domino kidney transplant makes history

July 9, 4:32 PMOrgan and Tissue Donor ExaminerCathy Doheny

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Transplant surgeon Dr. Robert Montgomery during a news conference July 7*

An eight-way domino kidney transplant involving 16 patients made history recently. The domino exchange, believed to be the largest chain of donations in history, involved hospitals in four cities:

1. Johns Hopkins in Baltimore
2. Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit
3. INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City
4. Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis

Surgeons transplanted eight kidneys over a time period of three weeks, with surgeries performed June 15, June 16, June 22, and July 6. To make it all work,  Johns Hopkins flew one kidney to Henry Ford in Detroit, one kidney to INTEGRIS Baptist in Oklahoma, and one kidney to Barnes-Jewish in St. Louis.  Henry Ford, INTEGRIS Baptist, and Barnes-Jewish each reciprocated by flying a kidney to Johns Hopkins.

Eight donors - 3 men and 5 women - donated kidneys to eight recipients - also 3 men and 5 women. The procedure was a kidney paired donation, where a group of incompatible donor-recipient pairs are matched with other pairs in a similar predicament. Each recipient gets a compatible kidney, by the exchange between the pairs. In this way,  transplants are enabled that otherwise would not have taken place.

An altruistic donor, someone who was willing to donate a kidney to a needy recipient, started this domino effect. Like dominoes, the kidneys were donated to each recipient of the incompatible pairs. The last kidney was donated to a recipient who had been on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) waiting list.

 For more info: Paired Kidney Exchange Program at Johns Hopkins

* AP Photo/Patrick Smith