Livingston, NJ -- "Many people with chronic kidney disease are hesitant to discuss living donation with family or friends," says Debbie Morgan, L.C.S.W., Director of the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division at Saint Barnabas Health Care System. "Even people surrounded by loving, caring families find this a difficult subject to raise."
At the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division, with programs Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, living donation is simply a part of the comprehensive transplant education process. Transplant candidates are encouraged to bring immediate and extended family members to educational sessions where living donation is presented as the best treatment option for those patients who have willing donors.
"Individuals who attend can take the information, think about it as long as they need until they feel comfortable," Ms. Morgan explains. In addition, the center provides written materials about the benefits of living donor transplantation that candidates can share with family and friends.
Providing More Living Donor Options
In response to the growing number of people living with chronic kidney disease who are waiting for a kidney transplant, Saint Barnabas created New Jersey’s only Living Donor Institute. The Institute, begun in 2006, promotes living donation as the best treatment option for patients with chronic kidney disease.
Blending the most modern technology and resources with attentive personalized care, the Living Donor Institute provides comprehensive support for patients and their families throughout the process of obtaining a transplant and maintaining a healthy organ. The Living Donor Institute offers a comprehensive range of services for living donation that includes the following:
- The Living Donation Kidney Exchange Program involves the matching and exchange of kidneys between donor/recipient pairs that are not compatible with each other. This allows recipients who have a willing living donor that does not match them, an opportunity to still receive a living donor transplant. The Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division participates in a number of national paired exchange registries in partnership with the NJ Organ and Tissue Sharing Network, in order to increase opportunities for matching pairs.
- The Program for Incompatible Kidney Transplants offers some potential recipients the option to receive a living donor kidney from an incompatible donor. Depending on the type and degree of incompatibility, medical technology may be able to overcome those immune system responses that cause transplant rejection and possible loss of the transplant.
- The Altruistic Living Donor Program matches altruistic donors, those willing to offer one of their kidneys to a stranger, with recipients awaiting transplantation.
- The Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division provides robotic-assisted kidney removal -- an advanced form of minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery using the da Vinci Surgical System. “Robot-assisted technology is a remarkable surgical tool. It allows us to do precision work with less trauma to the patient," states Stuart Geffner, M.D., Director of Renal and Pancreas Transplant Surgery for the Saint Barnabas Health Care System. The technique involves the use of a high-definition 3D viewer, a laparoscopic camera and robotic arms that are inserted into the patient through four half-inch incisions. The result is less pain and scarring, as well as a quicker recovery. Robotic-assisted surgery is the preferred method of kidney removal. Virtually 100 percent of donor surgeries performed at Saint Barnabas Health Care System use this technique.
- The Transplant Division coordinates the evaluation and testing of living donors who reside out-of-state or even out of the country. Potential donors may have the preliminary medical screening completed at their local health care facility and travel to New Jersey at the time of surgery. The Transplant Division will also facilitate the documentation necessary for kidney donors who plan travel to the United States from other countries.
Providing a full picture of the benefits and responsibilities associated with transplant is a priority at the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division. Patients and families are invited to attend one of the educational programs where they meet members of the transplant team, hear about the transplant process from individuals who have already been through it, and begin the evaluation process. To schedule an educational sessions, please contact Newark Beth Israel Medical Center at 1.877.878.7555 or Saint Barnabas Medical Center at 1.888.409.4707.
The world-class Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division of Barnabas Health is one of the world's most progressive transplant programs. Integrated programs at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston form the second largest kidney transplant program among 240 in the United States. In 2009, the Division achieved record-breaking volumes – performing 290 transplants, which included 140 living donor transplants. Living donation options include Living-Related and Emotionally-Related Donor Transplantation, Living Donor Kidney Exchange Program, Program for Incompatible Transplants and Altruistic Donation.
Date: July 1, 2010
Contact: Samantha Anton
Phone: 973-322-5425
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