Social Networking Speeds Organ Donation

A clever system called paired donation has significantly shortened the agonizing delays experienced by people looking for a kidney transplant in the US.

The Times Online (British, not American) explains paired donation with the story of Barb Bunnell, a 53-year-old Phoenix woman with polycistic kidney disease.

Barb applied for a kidney through the Ohio-based Alliance for Paired Donation. To qualify, she needed to be joined by someone willing to give a kidney to someone else in the system. That volunteer was her husband, Ron, who would have given his kidney to Barb, except -- as is often the case with would-be donor friends and relatives -- they weren't biologically matched.

So the Alliance found a kidney for Barb, and Ron's kidney was in turn given to a complete stranger.

The recipient of his kidney had been in a similar position as Mrs
Bunnell: her best friend wanted to donate but, as with the Bunnells, there was no match. Now that the woman has been given Mr Bunnell’s kidney, her best friend will follow his example and give her kidney to another stranger, and so on, resulting in a chain reaction that could rapidly shorten the kidney waiting list and bring the waiting time down from years to months.

It is thought that eight transplant patients will ultimately benefit from the chain that began with Mrs Bunnell and her Michigan donor, although it could be many more.

The system was launched in 2000 and recently approved by the Federal Organ Procurement and Transportation Network. If President Bush gives it the go-ahead, the system could be expanded and used for other organs.
Chain of human kindness that could end the agonising wait for a new kidney [Times Online]

Image: Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center*