Monday, March 7, 2016

First paired kidney exchange transplant done in Singapore

Here's the story from the Straits Times, about a short non-directed donor chain:  First paired kidney exchange transplant done in Singapore

"Ms Siti was put on dialysis while waiting for a donor, but time was running out. It was then that doctors put forth a novel proposal, known as a paired kidney exchange transplant.  Under this arrangement, a good Samaritan would donate his or her kidney to Ms Siti. In exchange, Madam Rafidah would give one of her own kidneys to someone on the national waiting list.

"While this procedure has been approved since 2009, it has never been carried out due to the lack of a donor who is both willing and medically fit.
...
"Every year, said Professor A Vathsala, who is co-director of the National University Centre for Organ Transplantation at the National University Hospital, only two or three healthy people come forward to donate their kidneys. And of these, only one would be assessed as medically fit.

"On the other hand, the average person on the national waiting list for a new kidney would have to wait nearly a decade for a new organ."
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Other coverage:
First living paired kidney exchange in Singapore performed at NUH (news broadcast with a video.)
Posted 29 Feb 2016 15:50

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