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Kidney Transplant Program

The Mayo Clinic experience and patient stories

Our patients tell us that the quality of their interactions, our attention to detail and the efficiency of their visits mean health care like they've never experienced. See the stories of Mayo Clinic transplant patients.

  1. 'Lobby Days' Offer Life-Changing Information About Kidney Transplants

    After enduring kidney dialysis for years, a conversation Martin Ruiz Zerme?o had at his dialysis center with Mayo Clinic social worker Jeffrey Welch paved the way to a successful kidney transplant. Martin Ruiz Zerme?o's home was melancholy. "When you don't feel well, there's sadness at home," he says. Stealing joy from Martin's life was kidney [...]

  2. Liver and Kidney Transplants Revive Ron Hale's Zest for Life

    A host of serious medical problems put Ron Hale on a downward spiral of deteriorating health. But a liver and a kidney transplant at Mayo Clinic stopped Ron's decline and dramatically improved his quality of life. Diagnosed with cirrhosis in March 2013, Ron Hale spent several long years coping with declining health and frequent hospitalizations. [...]

  3. Bring Him Now: Transplant Teams Bring Together 'Mayo Clinic at Its Finest' For Young Patient

    When 4-year-old Maksim Messerer's kidney function declined suddenly and unexpectedly, surgical staff from across Mayo Clinic quickly came together to perform his kidney transplant several weeks ahead of schedule. New Year's Eve is supposed to be a time of celebration and hope. But for Jeremiah and Rachael Messerer, Dec. 31, 2014, was anything but celebratory. [...]

  4. Living-Donor Kidney Transplant Cements Brothers' Bond

    Always close growing up, a successful kidney donation and transplant strengthened the connection between siblings Jim Von Holtum and Greg Vaske. Jim Von Holtum is the third-youngest child, and the youngest boy, in a mixed family of eight brothers and sisters. His half-brother Greg Vaske was already 13 years old when his baby brother was [...]

  5. In Need of a Second Transplant, Remy Marceau Fights On

    Four years after receiving a life-saving transplant, Remy Marceau was devastated when his body rejected the new kidney. Today he's using humor and hope to buoy his spirits as he waits for another transplant. Remy Marceau of Phoenix never expected to look back with such fondness on the four years after he received a life-saving [...]

  6. Random Chat With a Stranger Leads to a Second Chance at Life

    ? When John Branson struck up a conversation with Edgar Roberts, the two had no way of knowing their chance meeting would motivate John to become Edgar's kidney donor. But that's exactly what happened. Today, Edgar is enjoying renewed health, thanks to John's generosity. John Branson has saved many a life during his 28 years [...]

  7. Jennifer's Long Journey to a Kidney Transplant Leads to Renewed Health

    After waiting more than a decade for a kidney transplant and enduring a host of health challenges in the meantime, Jennifer Longoria finally received a new kidney, and a new opportunity for a healthy life, at Mayo Clinic. Jennifer Longoria was once told by her doctor that she was "a walking miracle who should be [...]

  8. Two-Time Kidney Transplant Recipient Builds a Life-Giving Legacy

    Years of health challenges that led to two kidney transplants motivated Ed Pompeian to establish the Gift of Life Transplant House, where people navigating their own transplants receive lodging, along with plenty of support and encouragement. Since he was 12 years old, Ed Pompeian's life has been shaped by the state of his kidney. You [...]

  9. Paired Kidney Donation Opens the Door to a More Active, Independent Life for Kathy Allen

    From Kathy Allen?s point of view, paired organ donation just may be the ultimate in generosity. Deciding to donate a kidney to someone you don?t know in a paired exchange can trigger a chain of matches that gives several people the opportunity for a renewed life. ?I can?t thank the donors enough for their selflessness,? [...]

  10. 'You Never Think About a Living Donor Until Someone You Love Needs One'

    From the time he was 13 years old, Jairus ?Matt? Pierce, battled kidney disease. By 2016, when he was 44, the disease had become debilitating. A shift commander for a fire department, Matt had been forced to take a light-duty assignment because of his medical condition. He required daily dialysis, and the only long-term solution [...]
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References
  1. Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients. http://www.srtr.org/default.aspx. Accessed April 7, 2016.
  2. U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News Best Hospitals 2015-16. http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings. Accessed Feb. 22, 2016.
  3. Orandi BJ, et al. Kidney transplants from incompatible live donors. New England Journal of Medicine. 2016;374:940.
  4. Riggin EA. Allscripts EPSi. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 5, 2016.
  5. Schinstock CA (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 18, 2014.
  6. Lallas CD, et al. The development of a laparoscopic donor nephrectomy program in a de novo renal transplant program: Evolution of technique and results in over 200 cases. Journal of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons. 2006;10:135.
  7. Mai ML (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla. April 26, 2016.
  8. Stulak JM, et al. Combined heart and abdominal organ transplantation: Excellent outcomes gained from a unique experience. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. 2014;33:S278.
  9. Li H, et al. Assessing the efficacy of kidney paired donation — Performance of an integrated three-site program. Transplantation. 2014;98:300.
  10. Cornell LD, et al. Positive crossmatch kidney transplant recipients treated with eculizumab: Outcomes beyond 1 year. American Journal of Transplantation. 2015;15:1293.
  11. Shapiro R, et al. Benefits and complications of laparoscopic donor nephrectomy. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed March 11, 2016.
  12. Polycystic kidney disease. National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases. http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/polycystic/. Accessed March 16, 2016.
  13. Raichlin E, et al. Combined heart and kidney transplantation provides an excellent survival and decreases risk of cardiac cellular rejection and coronary allograft vasculopathy. Transplantation Proceedings. 2011;43:1871.
  14. Heilman RL, et al. Steroid avoidance immunosuppression in low-risk kidney transplant recipients. Transplantation Proceedings. 2005;37:1785.
  15. Jay CL, et al. Reassessing preemptive kidney transplantation in the United States: Are we making progress? Transplantation. 20165;100:1120. http://www.transplantjournal.com. Accessed April 6, 2016.
  16. Bentall A, et al. Five-year outcomes in living donor kidney transplants with a positive crossmatch. American Journal of Transplantation. 2013;13:76.
  17. Prieto M (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. May 11, 2016.
  18. Dharnidharka VR, et al. Kidney transplantation in children. New England Journal of Medicine. 2014;371:549.
  19. Barbara Woodward Lips Patient Education Center. Your child's kidney transplant. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2016.
  20. Kidney transplant team describes current work. Mayovox. 1967;18:24.
  21. Kudva YC (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. March 14, 2016.
  22. Barbara Woodward Lips Patient Education Center. Kidney transplant. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2013.
  23. Rossi AP, et al. Evaluation of the potential renal transplant recipient. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed April 6, 2016.
  24. Cramer CH II (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 27, 2016.
  25. Li H, et al. The limits of paired donation — Who doesn't get transplanted? American Journal of Transplantation. 2013;13(suppl 5). http://www.atcmeetingsabstracts.com/abstract/limits-of-paired-donation-who-doesn’t-get-transplanted-the/. Accessed April 27, 2016.
  26. Crespo HS, et al. Kidney transplantation in the septuagenarian. American Journal of Transplantation. 2015;15(suppl 3). http://www.atcmeetingabstracts.com/abstract/kidney-transplantation-in-the-septuagenarian/. Accessed April 27, 2016.
  27. Taner T, et al. Decreased chronic cellular and antibody-mediated injury in the kidney following simultaneous liver-kidney transplantation. Kidney International. 2016:89:909.

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