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Portrait of Tommy Andersson. Photo.

Tommy Andersson

Professor

Portrait of Tommy Andersson. Photo.

Scandiatransplant Exchange Program (STEP) - Development and Results from an International Kidney Exchange Program

Author

  • Ilse Duus Weinreich
  • Tommy Andersson
  • Mats Bengtsson
  • Ali Reza Biglarnia
  • Claus Bistrup
  • Jean-Luc Boulland
  • Helle Bruunsgaard
  • Karin Skov
  • Sören Scheartz Sörensen
  • Lars Wennberg
  • Per Lindnér
Show all

Summary, in English

Kidney transplant candidates may be incompatible with their intended living donors because of the presence of antibodies against HLA and/or ABO. To increase the possibility of finding an acceptable kidney donor for these patients, the Scandiatransplant Exchange Program (STEP) program within Scandiatransplant was launched in 2019. Methods. This is a retrospective review of our experiences from the first 4 y of the STEP program, including details about the match runs, performed transplantations, and recipient outcomes within the program. Results. During 2019-2022, 11 match runs and 4 reruns were performed. In total, 114 pairs and 6 anonymous donors participated in these match runs. Fifty-one pairs (45%) participated in 1 match run, 31 pairs (27%) participated in 2 match runs, and 32 pairs (29%) participated in ≥3 match runs. Seventy-two individuals (63%) participated because of HLA incompatibility, 19 (17%) because of ABO incompatibility, and 7 (6%) because of both HLA and ABO incompatibility. Forty percent of the patients enrolled in the program underwent transplantation. In total, 49 transplantations have so far been performed within the program, and 46 (94%) of the recipients had a functioning kidney graft at follow-up in February 2023. Conclusions. The STEP program offers sensitized patients an enlarged pool of living donors and a chance of a compatible international living donor, resulting in an increased number of total transplantations. Currently, STEP is one of the largest transnational kidney exchange programs and has improved the situation for patients waiting for kidney transplantation in Scandiatransplant.

Department/s

  • Department of Economics

Publishing year

2023

Language

English

Publication/Series

Transplantation direct

Volume

9

Issue

11

Document type

Journal article review

Publisher

Wolters Kluwer

Topic

  • Economics

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 2373-8731