WEBVTT - Could Transplanted Organs Be Reused?

0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:04.320
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:10.600
<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, Beto Maldonado knew the

0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:13.920
<v Speaker 1>trials of kidney disease and dialysis better than most in

0:00:14.840 --> 0:00:17.479
<v Speaker 1>after spending most of his life limited by disease, he

0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:21.360
<v Speaker 1>received a healthy kidney by way of transplant. Tragically, only

0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:25.520
<v Speaker 1>two years later, Maldonado died in a motor vehicle accident. Normally,

0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:27.200
<v Speaker 1>his death would have been the end of the road

0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:30.880
<v Speaker 1>for the healthy donor kidney, but instead that kidney was

0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:35.240
<v Speaker 1>regifted to another patient in need. This was done, of course,

0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:38.599
<v Speaker 1>with the permission of Maldonado's family. His sister Linda said

0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:41.199
<v Speaker 1>in a press release, we just thought they gave him

0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:43.960
<v Speaker 1>that gift, why not help another family if we can.

0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:46.879
<v Speaker 1>The recipient was a seventy year old woman who had

0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:49.760
<v Speaker 1>been on dialysis for ten years and pronounced the kidney

0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:54.640
<v Speaker 1>a blessing. Organ regifting is a pretty rare procedure, but

0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:58.280
<v Speaker 1>the team that transplanted this kidney, doctor Jeffrey Veale, director

0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:00.560
<v Speaker 1>of the u c l A Kidney Exchange Program, and

0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:04.000
<v Speaker 1>his team have retransplanted three kidneys in less than a year.

0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:07.000
<v Speaker 1>When we spoke with him. Doctor Viale said that he

0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:09.520
<v Speaker 1>sees potential for many more centers to jump on board

0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:12.040
<v Speaker 1>with the practice. He said, it's a shame that we're

0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:17.280
<v Speaker 1>discarding these kidneys, so why aren't more kidneys regifted? Doctor

0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:19.840
<v Speaker 1>Ville explained the knee jerk response is that once a

0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:23.560
<v Speaker 1>kidney is transplanted, you don't retransplant it, and added that

0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:25.880
<v Speaker 1>some concerns arise over the damage that might happen to

0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:29.720
<v Speaker 1>a kidney over two separate death events, but he points

0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:32.920
<v Speaker 1>out some of these kidneys endured multiple blood transfusions and

0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:37.080
<v Speaker 1>other treatments when the original donor died. He said regifting

0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:39.559
<v Speaker 1>is less of a shock than these terribly traumatic motor

0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:44.640
<v Speaker 1>vehicle accidents. He notes, of people who get a kidney

0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:48.360
<v Speaker 1>transplant die with a functioning kidney, that's a lot of

0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:51.320
<v Speaker 1>potential donors and healthy organs that save lives are in

0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:55.480
<v Speaker 1>short supply. Although some patients might bulk at receiving a

0:01:55.600 --> 0:01:58.280
<v Speaker 1>second hand kidney, waiting for a new one can take

0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:02.919
<v Speaker 1>on average three to five years, sometimes longer. In April eighteen,

0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:05.720
<v Speaker 1>more than thousand Americans were on a waiting list for

0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.520
<v Speaker 1>a kidney, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.

0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:12.400
<v Speaker 1>The nonprofit that manages the nation's organ transplant system. Some

0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:15.799
<v Speaker 1>twenty people die every day waiting for an organ transplant,

0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:20.160
<v Speaker 1>and indefinite life on dialysis is far from ideal For

0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:23.520
<v Speaker 1>people with diabetes, in particular, every year on dialysis sees

0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:27.280
<v Speaker 1>a drop in life expectancy and quality of life. Although

0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:30.520
<v Speaker 1>the regifting program is still in early stages, Reveal reports

0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:33.000
<v Speaker 1>that his recipients are all off of dialysis with well

0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:36.720
<v Speaker 1>functioning kidneys. He said, we don't know the long term results,

0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:40.840
<v Speaker 1>but it looks great Initially. Not all donor kidneys can

0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:44.320
<v Speaker 1>be successfully regifted. The same donation rules apply as those

0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:47.679
<v Speaker 1>of normal transplants. For example, a recipient who later dies

0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:49.679
<v Speaker 1>of a disease like cancer would not be able to

0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:53.120
<v Speaker 1>pass along the organ. However, a patient who experiences a

0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:55.959
<v Speaker 1>fatal stroke or accident could still be in possession of

0:02:56.000 --> 0:03:01.560
<v Speaker 1>a regiftable kidney. To allow for redistribution of obviously transplanted organs,

0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:04.000
<v Speaker 1>some major changes would have to happen, both within the

0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:09.240
<v Speaker 1>transplant centers and likely the aforementioned United Network for Organ Sharing. Currently,

0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:13.080
<v Speaker 1>programs assess the original donor to determine compatibility and viability

0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:16.680
<v Speaker 1>of the organ in re gifted cases. However, doctor Viale

0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:18.639
<v Speaker 1>says that they would instead need to review the first

0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:22.400
<v Speaker 1>transplantees details by use in records to virtually cross match

0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:26.560
<v Speaker 1>blood types and other details like medical history. This is

0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:29.640
<v Speaker 1>no small feat in an industry laden with important protocols

0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:34.120
<v Speaker 1>to protect patients. Nonetheless, it's possible that regifting may be

0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.080
<v Speaker 1>done to organs besides kidneys in the future. For example,

0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:40.720
<v Speaker 1>the liver doctor Ville said, these are often high quality

0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:43.440
<v Speaker 1>organs from young donors who have tragically died and are

0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:45.680
<v Speaker 1>often going to sicker patients on the wait list who

0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:48.480
<v Speaker 1>are often older and might have multiple medical issues and

0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:50.400
<v Speaker 1>so are at risk of dying a few weeks or

0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:53.560
<v Speaker 1>months later of a stroke or heart attack. Why not

0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:56.160
<v Speaker 1>take that high quality organ and help someone else out.

0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:00.160
<v Speaker 1>One organ donor can save up to eight lives, but

0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:03.080
<v Speaker 1>too often this potential goes unrealized. If you want to

0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:05.080
<v Speaker 1>be an organ donor, make your wishes known to your

0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:07.880
<v Speaker 1>family and take time to register online. The site d

0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:15.680
<v Speaker 1>m v dot org has an easy registration form. Today's

0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:18.039
<v Speaker 1>episode was written by Alia Howitt and produced by Tyler

0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:20.680
<v Speaker 1>Playing brain Stuff is a production of iHeart Radios. How

0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:22.760
<v Speaker 1>Stuff works for more in this and lots of other

0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:25.159
<v Speaker 1>topics that keep on giving. Visit our home planet, how

0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:27.920
<v Speaker 1>stuff Works dot com. And for more podcasts from my

0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:31.000
<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or

0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:32.599
<v Speaker 1>wherever you listen to your favorite shows,