Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Paired Donation Network?
The Paired Donation Network is a not-for profit 501c3 corporation that consists of a network of regional, multistate paired donation consortia whose purpose is to make paired donation available to all patients with kidney failure.

What is a regional paired donation consortium?
A regional paired donation consortium is a group of kidney transplant programs that work together to perform paired donation kidney transplants. 

How many paired donation programs are there in the United States?
To our knowledge there are currently only five programs that have performed paired donations. Of these, three are single center programs.  Only two are regional consortia that consist of consortia of more than 1 program. The Paired Donation Network is the largest collaborative group of kidney transplant programs in the world performing paired donation.   
How long does it take to find a match?
The length of time it takes to find a matching pair is not known. However, the larger the number of pairs within an exchange program, the greater the chance that you will find a match. In general, at least 20 available pairs are needed to optimize matching.
A Success Story: The Vollmars and the Meyers
Daniel Vollmar (second from the left in the picture) wanted to donate to his mother, Josephine (on the left in the picture), but Josephine developed immunity to Daniel's tissues when she was pregnant with him. Rose Meyer (on the right in the picture)  wanted to donate to her husband, Paul, but her blood type (blood type A) was not compatible with Paul's blood type (blood type O).  The Meyers were entered into the PDC web-based computer matching program by their transplant coordinator at the Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, and the Vollmars were entered by their  transplant coordinator at the Medical University of Ohio.

After they were matched by the computer, and  crossmatching testing was performed to assure sure that Daniel's kidney was compatible with Paul and that Rose's kidney was compatible with Josephine.   After these tests were completed, they met each other (see CNN story "A Vital Trade" below. 

A few weeks later, in a paired donation procedure, Rose donated her kidney to Josephine, and Daniel donated to Paul. Josephine would have likely waited three years or more for a kidney on the deceased donor wait list. Paul never had to go on dialysis, where he would have also waited for three or more years.  All four are doing well today, and have become close friends because of the extraordinary experience they had in the paired donation procedure.

 
Original PDC 30 centers
Great Plains PDC 5 centers
New Jersey PDC 6 centers
SouthEast PDC 15 centers
SouthWest PDC 22 centers
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