Long chain of kidney transplants to be performed for first time in Israel

Four people whose spouses need a kidney transplant but whose tissues do not match, plus one altruistic donor, have agreed to donate kidneys to others in the group and to a cousin who was in need of a donor.The operations, the first of their kind in Israel, will take place over the next few days at the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva and the Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv.Today there are about 20 couples in the national database of couples in which one needs a kidney and the other is ready to donate an organ. As the reservoir of donors grows, the potential for finding couples will also increase.Anyone waiting for a transplant whose family has not found a match for a kidney donation due to a difference in blood type or a high level of antibodies is invited to join the national database through the medical center where they want to undergo the transplant.Prof. Rafael Beyar, chairman of the steering committee of the National Organ Transplant Center, said on Monday: “I welcome the cross-transplants carried out by excellent transplantation teams in the hospitals, coordinated and led by the National Organ Transplant Center. Without cross transplants, there are no solutions for those patients.”