Could Transplanted Organs Be Reused?

People who receive organ transplants often die with that organ working perfectly, but today, those organs are rarely retransplanted. Learn why -- and how some researchers are hoping to change that -- in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
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,

(00:25):
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

(00:46):
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

(01:07):
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

(01:29):
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

(01:51):
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

(02:12):
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

(02:33):
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

(02:53):
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

(03:16):
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,

(03:37):
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.

(03:57):
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

(04:18):
Playing brain Stuff is a production of iHeart Radios. How
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