National Kidney Registry in the news

This was a great piece in the New York Times Magazine (link below) but it framed the decision to donate to a child or start a chain as an "either or" decision. This is not the case. In fact, over the past 12 months, NKR chains started by Good Samaritan donors have helped a dozen kids get transplanted. The most recent child transplanted was a very hard to match 3 year old in Utah, which coincidentally, is the home of the author of the Times story.

The NKR Children & High PRA program (CHIP) is how chains are ended and will almost always provide a better match (HLA, age, size) to a child who ends a chain. A chain also has the potential to facilitate transplants for several children depending on the length of the chain and the composition of the pool. As it relates to the Times story, it would have been possible for Bala to start a chain, get 5 - 10 people transplanted AND get the 16 year old child transplanted with a better matched donor.

No matter how you look at this, Bala and all donors are heroes and should receive a standing ovation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/magazine/the-ethicist-life-preserver.html?_r=2

A few months ago, I signed up to be a living kidney donor to help someone in need who was not related to me. Recently I was told that I was a match for a local 16-year-old. But if I were to enroll in the national kidney registry, my donation could facilitate a donor chain, potentially benefiting 5 or 10 patients. Should I help one person now or several people in the future? It’s hard to say no to a child, yet does the good of the many outweigh the good of the one in this case? BALA AMBATI, SALT LAKE CITY

David Serur, MD

Medical Director, Kidney Transplantation

Rogosin Institute

New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell

505 East 70 Street

New York, NY 10021