A rare nine-way kidney transplant chain was completed on Friday between two San Francisco hospitals. The transplants began on Thursday and consisted of a 36-hour chain of continuous surgeries involving 18 surgeries in total. Doctors say the rare chain of transplant surgeries was performed between two San Francisco hospitals and is being considered as the “longest kidney transplant chain performed in one city” in that period of time.
The chain was started with Reid Moran-Haywood, a donor. Doctors at the UCSF removed Reid’s kidney and carefully transported it to a recipient at California Pacific Medical Center. Reid says that a friend was in need of a kidney, but he was not a match. Though he was not able to donate a kidney to his friend, he decided to donate the organ anyway and offered it up to a stranger.
According to WTSP, the donors included a husband and wife pair who were not kidney matches. The husband had offered his kidney to his wife but was not a match. Therefore, he offered to donate his kidney to a stranger in exchange for his wife to be paired with a compatible donor.
With the nine-way kidney transplant chain a success, doctors at the two San Francisco hospitals are hoping their efforts will spark a working model for the nation. The doctors note that over 7,000 patients are waiting for kidneys in San Francisco alone. Dr. Robert Osorio, director of transplantation at CPMC, says that each time they remove a patient off the list, someone else gets to move up the waiting list.
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/2150095/rare-9-way-kidney-transplant-performed-between-two-san-francisco-hospitals/#6LX9tr8DSTW954M3.99
