Penn Medicine sets world record with 100 kidney paired donation surgeries in 1 year

Editor’s Note

Penn Medicine celebrated a significant milestone on December 6—its 100th paired kidney exchange surgery in 12 months set a world record for the most kidney paired donation transplants in a year. The announcement was published in an EurekAlert! December 12 press release.

Penn Medicine launched its Center for Living Donation in December of 2022, adding additional experts to its team of transplant surgeons, nephrologists, and nurses, including mentors who have been part of the living donation process. More than 90,000 people in the US are awaiting a kidney transplant. Wait times range from 5 to 8 years, and 4,000 people per year die waiting to receive a transplant in the US.

The National Kidney Registry’s paired exchange enables willing donors to offer life-saving help, even if they are incompatible with a loved one in need of a transplant.

“Anyone who is involved in paired exchange will understand the magnitude of Penn’s accomplishment,” said Garet Hil, a living kidney donor and founder/CEO of the National Kidney Registry. “Penn proved it is possible, and now many transplant centers will break the 100-KPD transplant threshold over the next decade, facilitating thousands of additional life-saving living donor kidney transplants.”