AUSTIN, Texas — On Thursday, the Kidney Transplant Center at St. David's North Austin Medical Center and Donate Life America announced the first living kidney donor through the National Donate Life Living Donor Registry.
The new program allows any adult registered as a deceased donor through the National Donate Life Registry to also register interest in becoming a living kidney donor. The program is currently only available in Texas during its initial pilot phase, but Donate Life America has future plans to launch it nationwide.
The Living Donor Registry's first living kidney donor, Camden Underwood, underwent a successful surgery at St. David's North Austin on July 12. As Underwood was a non-directed living donor, his kidney was given anonymously to a patient on the list for a kidney transplant.
"It's amazing that there's kind people that are willing to help someone out there in the universe," said Dr. Koushik Shaw, who performed Underwood's surgery.
"We are proud to work with Donate Life America to make living kidney donation more accessible,” said Jacqueline Lappin, M.D., the surgical director of the Kidney Transplant Center at St. David’s North Austin. "A living donor kidney is the gold standard of kidney transplants. A living donor kidney is lifesaving. It is a lower risk procedure compared to a deceased donor transplant since the living donor kidney is more likely to be successful in the recipient."
Before the Living Donor Registry, anyone interested in living kidney donation had to choose a kidney transplant center, figure out how to contact it directly and arrange to have an initial medical screening.
With the new registry, anyone can check their initial eligibility, see a list of living donor kidney programs and register their interest in living kidney donation. The transplant programs then receive a notification and can contact the living donor candidate.
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