Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, Beto Maldonado knew the trials of kidney disease and dialysis better than most in after spending most of his life limited by disease, he received a healthy kidney by way of transplant. Tragically, only two years later, Maldonado died in a motor vehicle accident. Normally, his death would have been the end of the road for the healthy donor kidney, but instead that kidney was
regifted to another patient in need. This was done, of course, with the permission of Maldonado's family. His sister Linda said in a press release, we just thought they gave him that gift, why not help another family if we can. The recipient was a seventy year old woman who had been on dialysis for ten years and pronounced the kidney
a blessing. Organ regifting is a pretty rare procedure, but the team that transplanted this kidney, doctor Jeffrey Veale, director of the u c l A Kidney Exchange Program, and his team have retransplanted three kidneys in less than a year. When we spoke with him. Doctor Viale said that he sees potential for many more centers to jump on board with the practice. He said, it's a shame that we're
discarding these kidneys, so why aren't more kidneys regifted? Doctor Ville explained the knee jerk response is that once a kidney is transplanted, you don't retransplant it, and added that some concerns arise over the damage that might happen to a kidney over two separate death events, but he points out some of these kidneys endured multiple blood transfusions and other treatments when the original donor died. He said regifting is less of a shock than these terribly traumatic motor
vehicle accidents. He notes, of people who get a kidney transplant die with a functioning kidney, that's a lot of potential donors and healthy organs that save lives are in short supply. Although some patients might bulk at receiving a second hand kidney, waiting for a new one can take on average three to five years, sometimes longer. In April eighteen, more than thousand Americans were on a waiting list for a kidney, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.
The nonprofit that manages the nation's organ transplant system. Some twenty people die every day waiting for an organ transplant, and indefinite life on dialysis is far from ideal For people with diabetes, in particular, every year on dialysis sees a drop in life expectancy and quality of life. Although the regifting program is still in early stages, Reveal reports that his recipients are all off of dialysis with well functioning kidneys. He said, we don't know the long term results,
but it looks great Initially. Not all donor kidneys can be successfully regifted. The same donation rules apply as those of normal transplants. For example, a recipient who later dies of a disease like cancer would not be able to pass along the organ. However, a patient who experiences a fatal stroke or accident could still be in possession of a regiftable kidney. To allow for redistribution of obviously transplanted organs, some major changes would have to happen, both within the
transplant centers and likely the aforementioned United Network for Organ Sharing. Currently, programs assess the original donor to determine compatibility and viability of the organ in re gifted cases. However, doctor Viale says that they would instead need to review the first transplantees details by use in records to virtually cross match blood types and other details like medical history. This is no small feat in an industry laden with important protocols
to protect patients. Nonetheless, it's possible that regifting may be done to organs besides kidneys in the future. For example, the liver doctor Ville said, these are often high quality organs from young donors who have tragically died and are often going to sicker patients on the wait list who are often older and might have multiple medical issues and so are at risk of dying a few weeks or months later of a stroke or heart attack. Why not take that high quality organ and help someone else out.
One organ donor can save up to eight lives, but too often this potential goes unrealized. If you want to be an organ donor, make your wishes known to your family and take time to register online. The site d m v dot org has an easy registration form. Today's episode was written by Alia Howitt and produced by Tyler Playing brain Stuff is a production of iHeart Radios. How Stuff works for more in this and lots of other topics that keep on giving. Visit our home planet, how
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