Kidney swap helps two men

Akron City Hospital performs transplants involving four people

By Beth Rankin

Beacon Journal staff writer

June 14, 2006

Patrick Krantz remembers exactly how long he was on kidney dialysis: three years, six months, two weeks and six days.

"Not that I was counting,'' he said.

The college professor from New Castle, Pa., also can count the hospitals he sought out for a potential transplant: two.

The number of potential donors: three.

Meanwhile, in Alliance, Jubilee doughnut shop owner Peter Welden was in his third year of dialysis. But he was lucky enough to endure only mild symptoms of renal failure.

Both men had plenty of potential donors, but no one matched their blood type and organ tissue composition.

But thanks to an attentive transplant coordinator at Akron City Hospital, the two were able to put their willing donors to good use.

Patty Fisher was sifting through paperwork a month ago when she realized that both Krantz and Welden could get the kidneys they needed by simply switching donors.

For Krantz, it meant his colleague, Joyce Hollein, a fellow education professor at Westminster College, would give one of her kidneys to Welden, while Welden's son, Ben, would donate his kidney to Krantz.

So on May 30, the double transplant was successfully performed.

"This isn't very common,'' said Dr. Tanmay Lal, a transplant surgeon at Akron City Hospital.

Donor switching in Ohio is usually facilitated by Ohio's Living Donor Kidney Exchange Program, which was created in 2004. The program is an effort between the Ohio Solid Organ Transplantation Consortium and the surgeons at Ohio's 10 transplant centers.

Lal said it is unusual for a hospital of Akron's size to find two pairs of matching, willing donors and recipients.

"Ours is a very small center,'' Lal said.

Akron City's Renal Transplant Center has one transplant and one recipient surgeon, which meant the operations could not be carried out simultaneously. Lal said that most donor/recipient swaps are performed simultaneously so no one has a chance to back out after the other kidney has been transplanted.

"We just trusted them, and we went forward with the transplant,'' Lal said. The five-hour procedures were performed in the same night.

For this enthusiastic foursome, backing out was never an option.

"As far as being a donor goes, it's more of a `why not' situation than a `why,' '' said Hollein, who also is a breast cancer survivor. She's been cancer-free for 14 years.

For Krantz, finding a potential donor was never hard.

"What happens when you're on dialysis is that everyone you know comes out of the woodwork and offers you a kidney,'' he said. ``But there is a disappointment to it.''

Krantz had three people -- a brother, brother-in-law and Hollein -- tested, but none was a match.

Krantz and Welden are now enjoying healthy post-dialysis lives.

And because the kidneys they received came from living donors, their life span will be greatly increased.

Just 20 percent of donated kidneys come from living donors, Lal said.

Without a transplant, patients suffering kidney failure usually die before their 50th birthday. With a healthy kidney from a living donor, two decades can be added to a patient's life span.

Last month, organ donation was at an all-time high, Lal said. Lal performed 14 transplants in May, and anticipates he will perform at least 50 by year's end. Last year, the center performed 29.

Lal said he hopes the numbers continue to increase.

There are 70,000 people nationwide, including 2,000 from Ohio, waiting for a new kidney.

For information about obtaining or donating organs, contact a family physician or visit the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network Web site at www.optn.org.

Messages for Beth Rankin may be left at 330-996-3136 or brankin@thebeaconjournal.com

Copyright © 2004 Knight Ridder.

This article posted July 15, 2006.