Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta recently performed its first paired exchange kidney transplant. While surgical teams at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston prepared a 9-year-old boy to receive a kidney from Texas on Jan. 4, surgeons at Emory University Hospital removed a kidney from the boy’s mother. The mother’s healthy kidney was then transported to an awaiting recipient in Texas. 

A paired exchange donation consists of two kidney donor/recipient pairs whose blood types are not compatible. The two recipients trade donors so that each recipient can receive a kidney with a compatible blood type. Once the evaluations of all donors and recipients are completed, the two kidney transplant operations are scheduled to occur simultaneously.

“This accomplishment highlights the continued success of the collaborative efforts of the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University Transplant programs,” said Amy Hauser, Service Line Administrator for the Children’s Transplant Program. “The paired donor exchange program allows greater opportunity for the patients we serve to receive a kidney transplant, and we look forward to utilizing the program to improve the quality of life for many more patients.”

Living organ donation dates back to 1954, when a kidney from one twin was successfully transplanted into his identical brother. Today, the number of living organ donors is more than 6,000 per year. One in four donors is not biologically related to the recipient.

This landmark accomplishment for the Children’s Transplant Program is the third milestone for the program in recent months. The program completed its 300th liver transplant July 2009 and its 1000th overall solid organ transplant in October 2009. 

The Children’s Transplant Program began in 1980 with the inception of the Children’s Kidney Transplant Program, which has since performed more than 450 kidney transplants. The Children's Liver, Heart and Kidney Transplant Programs have been recognized among the top pediatric programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report.

For more than 20 years, Children’s has been at the forefront of pediatric transplant care. The Children’s Transplant Program has achieved several groundbreaking accomplishments, including:

Transplanted the world’s youngest (10 days old) and three smallest (2 to 4 pounds) liver transplant recipients 
One of the first pediatric hospitals in the United States to perform three heart transplants in 24 hours 
At the forefront of its field with ABO-incompatible liver and heart transplants 
Performed more than 450 pediatric kidney transplants, making Children’s one of only a few pediatric hospitals to reach such a milestone 

For more information about the Children’s Transplant Program, visit www.choa.org/transplant.