Kidney Swap Unites Two Couples

Feb. 23, 2006 — -- Carl Chandler and his wife, Paulette, as well as Francisco Torres and his wife, Alfreda, are all in surgery today at the University of Illinois Medical Center.

The two men each needed a new kidney. Both had been looking for a donor. Paulette Chandler and Alfreda Torres told the Chicago Tribune they each had been separately asking for help for their husbands.

"Lord, bring us a donor," Chandler said.

"Lord, help me find a way," Torres hoped.

In both cases, the wives had hoped to donate the organ to their husbands. However, tests showed that their blood types were incompatible, making them both bad matches for their mates. Carl Chandler is Type B, Paulette is Type A. Francisco Torres is Type A, Alfreda, Type B.

After the direct donor option with a spouse failed, both men were looking at long waits on a donor list. In Chicago, that wait can be nearly five years -- and even longer for minority candidates.

African-Americans suffer from diseases like diabetes and hypertension at a greater rate than whites and therefore need more transplants. So lists are weighted heavily with minorities hoping for a donor. Carl is African-American; Francisco, Latino.

Both couples were working with the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center unaware of each other. Then, in January, the UIC team brought up the idea of a unique concept in organ transplants. UIC belongs to a relatively new program called the Paired Donation Consortium, which operates in 10 states and arranges organ swaps.

"Paired kidney exchange offers a new way for patients to find a blood-type compatible donor," said Dr. Enrico Benedetti, chief of transplantation at UIC.

Remember those incompatible blood types? What had been a bad blood match for each spouse looked good for the other couple. Paulette Chandler's Type A was a match for Francisco Torres. Alfreda Torres' Type B kidney was a good match for Carl Chandler.