The University of Toledo Medical Center renal transplant team was excited on November 4, 2004 to perform the world's first paired kidney exchange transplant in which the two recipient/donor pairs were matched together via a computerized matching program.

We have teamed up with nine other Ohio medical centers that perform kidney transplants to help facilitate renal transplantation with a live donor "Paired Kidney Donation " program. This program is the first of its kind in statewide collaboration.

The UTMC renal transplant team spearheaded the computer data base program which makes it possible to match a potential recipient with a willing but incompatible donor, to another potential recipient with a willing but incompatible donor — for a possible "paired donation." A consortium of transplant centers in the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky closely supervises the paired donation process to ensure organs are exchanged by a system that is fair for all participants. The Paired Donation Consortium oversee the program.

According to The United Network for Organ Sharing, 2,235 patients were in need of a kidney in Ohio and nationally there were 76,104 people waiting for a kidney as of May, 2008. As part of this program, the UTMC renal transplant team offers patients, their families, and our community a comprehensive organ donation program that provides greater opportunities to patients waiting for a kidney.

The "Paired Kidney Donation" program allows patients with kidney failure who have willing but incompatible donors, such as different blood types, to "exchange" kidneys so that both patients get transplanted and both donors give kidneys – the kidneys just go to different recipients than usually expected.

An example of this situation would be if a sister wanted to give her brother a kidney, but differences in blood type made this impossible. In this new program, such a patient/donor pair is matched with other pairs in the same situation. These pairs can "donate" kidneys so that both patients get transplanted and both donors give kidneys.

To learn more about the paired exchange program, please fill out the online Request Information Form.