The Organ Donor Shortage

Since kidney transplantation  in humans became successful  over five decades ago,  the number of patients needing kidney transplants has exceeded the supply of donor kidneys.  As of July 2006, over 70,000 patients were awaiting kidney transplants in the United States.  The number of patients awaiting transplantation has risen every year for the last 18 years -  ever since statistics have been kept on the subject.

Kidneys come from donors who have died-  deceased donors, or from living donors. Although the numbers of living donors and deceased donors have risen over the past several years, they have not kept pace with the numbers of patients needing kidney transplants. 

As the number of patients who need kidneys continues to increase, waiting times for kidney transplants also increase.  In the United States, the average wait for a kidney transplant is over three years.
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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