| Non-Directed Donor Program |
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A non-directed kidney donor is a living donor who is not known to the kidney transplant recipient but has selflessly chosen to donate a kidney. Non-directed organ donation is sometimes referred to as anonymous, altruistic, altruistic stranger, and stranger-to-stranger living donation. Non-directed kidney donation is a unique way to match living donors with compatible recipients and to increase the availability of matching kidneys for kidney patients in need of a transplant. It takes paired donor kidney exchanges one giant step further. By creating a “donor chain”—also known as domino kidney transplantation—one non-directed kidney donation can lead to many simultaneous kidney transplants by providing a match with incompatible donor/recipient pairs. The extra kidney, or “bridge” kidney, can be used to start a new donor chain or it can be offered to a compatible patient in the paired exchange database or the national UNOS waiting list, depending on the match. Here’s an example of how a donor chain works:
As you can see, a single non-directed donor is responsible for many kidney transplants—offering hope to three people who otherwise might not have the opportunity to receive a new kidney. For more information on non-directed kidney donation, please contact our dedicated Living Paired Donor Kidney Transplant Program Coordinator at (210) 575-8447. For more information on Non-Directed Kidney Donation, be sure to check out these websites: Non-Directed Donation and Donor Chains: http://www.kidneyregistry.org/living_donors.php National Kidney Foundation—Living Donation: http://www.kidney.org/transplantation/livingdonors/index.cfm
Transplant Living-Living Donation: Read a fascinating blog about a non-directed donor and his kidney transplant recipient: http://www.kidneychronicles.com/2007/04/im-donating-kidney-to-stranger-on-april.html One Donor Sparks Five-Way Kidney Transplant: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Surgery/Transplantation/4567 |
