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Kidney Transplant — Incompatible Blood
The Blood Type Incompatible Kidney Transplant is a new program that enables patients to receive a kidney from living donors, even though their blood types are incompatible. To receive these kidneys, patients must undergo several treatments before and after the transplant to remove harmful antibodies that can cause organ rejection.
A process called plasmapheresis, which is similar to dialysis, removes these harmful antibodies from the blood. Patients need five to 10 treatments with plasmapheresis before transplant and may require several more after transplant to maintain low antibody levels.
Some patients may have their spleens removed at the time of transplant surgery to lower the number of cells that produce antibodies. The spleen produces blood cells. The spleen, which is the size of a fist and located in the upper left part of the abdomen under the rib cage, can be removed laparoscopically, using tiny incisions and a tiny scope or camera.
Because the harmful antibodies — and in some cases the spleen — are removed, the risk of rejecting the kidney is greatly reduced.
During the first several weeks after transplant, patients are monitored closely with blood tests to make sure that the kidney functions properly.
To discuss a living donor transplant, call the UCSF Transplant office at (415) 353-1551 and ask for the Living Donor Kidney Transplant Program coordinator.
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