By Bruce Kaplan, M.D., Baylor Scott & White Medical Center — Temple
Did you know your kidneys play an important role in your health, and possibly someone else’s? Did you know that kidney disease, also known as chronic kidney disease, causes more deaths than breast cancer or prostate cancer? According to the National Kidney Foundation, it is the ninth-leading cause of death in the U.S., with more than one out of three Americans at risk. Unfortunately, chronic kidney disease can impact anyone at any age, but even with this disease there is hope through kidney transplantation.
These three scenarios help shed a light on the problem, but ultimately share the same solution:
1 Doctors diagnosed him with a kidney disease resulting from deposits of an antibody buildup in his kidneys. They were functioning at only 40 percent. Then, a bout with pneumonia resulted in a medically induced coma, lowering his kidney function to 5 percent. In this desperate time of need, all he could do was wait.
2 Her health was declining rapidly due to bacteria in her lungs. Her body was put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to provide temporary blood flow and respiratory support. Suddenly, she needed a lifesaving transplant. At the top of the list, she waited, remembering her late brother who just months before had his name on the same list.
3 His heart function fell to less than 10 percent. After a diagnosis of heart failure, two stents, and an overload of fluid in his body due to kidney failure, he urgently required both a kidney and heart transplant. His name went on a list and he was asked to wait.
As different as each of these individuals are, they are joined by a common need. Through a series of miracles, they received what they were waiting for, a donated kidney.
“Right now, there are around 100,000 patients on the kidney transplant waiting list,” says Bruce Kaplan, MD, Raleigh R. White endowed chair and vice president for transplant services, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center — Temple. “Approximately 15,000 of them will get that transplant.”
Put another way, every 10 minutes someone is added to the waiting list, and 20 people die each day waiting to get a transplant.
Kaplan emphasizes that many people do not know they can be on the list at multiple hospitals for organ transplant. While there is one national list for organ donors in the U.S., within this list, organs are distributed locally and regionally. If you are on the list in multiple locations, or in more than one “organ procurement region,” it can increase your chance of receiving an offer.
“You don’t really have to match with the person you donate to,” says. Kaplan. “But you want the organ to be compatible. Most people generally wait six years to receive an organ like a kidney, but the average at Baylor Scott & White is much lower, at only 18 months, due to aggressive organ assessment.”
Living donations include kidney and liver donations. Deceased donation includes kidney, liver, pancreas, heart, intestines, lungs, cornea, and tissues. People of all ages and medical histories are able to donate. The biggest determining factor will be your medical condition at the time of death to determine what tissues and organs can be donated.
For more information on transplant services at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center — Temple, call (254) 724-8912 or visit www.bswhealth.com/transplant.
