Published on July 30, 2008
University of Colorado Hospital Participates in Rocky Mountain Region’s First Three-State Kidney Paired Donation
AURORA, Colo. (July 30, 2008) – Boleslav Mrva would have done anything to help his wife, Magdelena (Maggie), whose kidneys were failing and a transplant was necessary to improve her health. Still, while Boleslav was willing to offer her one of his, the kidney was considered incompatible. The Arvada, Colo., couple enrolled with the Alliance for Paired Donation and today, Maggie received a kidney, while Boleslav gave one of his to another patient. The process is called Kidney Paired Donation. Today’s procedure was the first in the Rocky Mountain Region, performed at University of Colorado Hospital (UCH). The hospital is one of the nation’s first hospitals to perform living-donor transplant surgery.
The Mrva’s were matched with patients in North Carolina and Alabama. Simultaneous surgeries were performed in these states. Today’s medical milestone at the University of Colorado Hospital spotlights the importance of living organ donation.
“Paired donation demonstrates a commitment to maximize efforts to provide kidneys to the many patients who need them,” said Igal Kam, MD, transplant surgeon and division head of the UCH Transplant Center. “Families everywhere face the same issues and concerns and today three donors gave a selfless gift so at least three families share more time with their loved ones.”
The Alliance for Paired Donation (APD) estimates that paired donation will one day allow for an additional 3,000 living donor kidney transplants per year in America. Living donor kidneys typically function for 15.5 years while organs from a deceased donation typically last only half of that time. The APD believes paired donation has the greatest potential to extend the lives of patients with kidney disease. Beyond matches, the nonprofit organization seeks to serve kidney patients with education, charitable gifts and ongoing development of paired donation technology.
The Alliance for Paired Donation found a match for Maggie from a patient in Winston-Salem, N.C. That patient’s donor actually lives in New Mexico, and she traveled to Denver to help Maggie. Maggie’s husband was a match for a patient in Birmingham, Ala.
That individual’s incompatible donor was a match for a patient in Winston-Salem, N.C. The surgeries were performed simultaneously in three states. Surgeons at University of Colorado Hospital, University of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham and Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center are all Alliance Partners. Transplant coordinators played a vital role in scheduling the surgeries.
Transplant surgeon Thomas Bak, MD, participated in today’s transplant surgery at UCH. Transplant nephrologist Larry Chan, MD, will provide ongoing care of the Denver-area recipient following today’s procedure. University of Colorado Hospital began performing kidney transplants in the early 1960s. Dr. Chan and Dr. Kam lead the UCH Kidney Transplant Program. Throughout the last 20 years, the program has made significant technological advances, improving the life expectancy for transplant patients. More than 40 percent of all kidney transplant recipients at UCH receive their organ from a living donor. The hospital was recently ranked by U.S. News & World as the nation’s 11th best hospital for treating kidney disease.
The University of Colorado Hospital is the Rocky Mountain region's leading academic medical center, and has been recognized as one of the United States’ best hospitals, according to U.S. News & World Report. It is best known as an innovator in patient care and often as one of the first hospitals to bring new medicine to patients’ bedsides. Located at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colo., the hospital’s physicians are all affiliated with the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, part of the University of Colorado system.
Jacque Montgomery
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