Methodist Healthcare
April 30, 2019

San Antonio, TX – During a time when kidney disease is becoming more prevalent and the transplant list is growing, the staff at Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital (MSTH) is completing hundreds of successful kidney transplants from live donors each year, making it the largest program in the nation once again.

A live donor transplant is the most desirable because these transplants statistically last about five years longer than transplants from deceased donors. Since 2009, MSTH has provided live donor kidney transplants to nearly 1,800 people.

Much of MSTH’s success has been possible through the hospital’s world-renowned paired donor exchange program.

A paired donor exchange allows living donors who are not able to donate to their intended recipient, due to a variety of incompatibility reasons, another avenue for donation. Those living donors and their recipients are submitted into a pool of other incompatible pairs and are then matched with another donor and recipient with better compatibility. The MSTH program routinely completes large paired exchanges and is responsible for the world’s largest exchange being 46 total surgeries, or 23 exchanges, during a three-day period. All of these surgeries were completed within the hospital’s four walls in the South Texas Medical Center.

“We want to educate as many people as possible about this transplant option and about our extensive experience with paired exchange,” says Adam Bingaman, MD, PhD, transplant surgeon and program director. “The more pairs we have, the more recipients will receive the kidneys they desperately need.”

Throughout April, Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital has committed to raising awareness about the gift of organ and tissue donation.

A living donor is an option for the 114,000 men, women and children awaiting lifesaving organ transplants nationally, including 82% who need a kidney. Roughly 8,000 deaths occur every year because organs aren’t donated in time.

Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital invites you to register to become an organ, eye and tissue donor by visiting methodistdonatelife.com.