For one of every three kidney failure patients, a transplant is not possible even if a potential donor's tissue and blood types otherwise match perfectly. This is because they have a highly sensitized immune system that would attack the transplanted kidney or pancreas.
If a person has become highly sensitized, his or her immune system is hyper-vigilant to invaders -- even when the invader is a life-saving transplanted organ.From Montefiore Medical Center
Q. What does "SENSITIZED" mean?
A. Approximately 30% of the 84,000 patients who are waiting for a deceased-donor kidney are considered "sensitized", and those with exceptionally high antibody levels are considered especially poor candidates for transplantation. People who have this type of antibody typically develop them through a previous exposure to foreign tissue, such as during pregnancy, prior transplant and blood transfusion. In fact, each year only 6.5% of highly sensitized patients receive a transplant. Sensitized patients wait 3-4 times longer than unsensitized patients for a compatible deceased-donor.
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Hello! My name is Amber Scott, and I am a Communications Editor at UT Arlington. I'm trying to reach Vimal Goel regarding his work for an upcoming article in UT Arlington Magazine. I'd love to talk with Vimal some more about what we're doing and hopefully conduct a brief interview by phone or email, or in person if he is local. My email address is alscott at uta dot edu. (Sorry for spelling that out; trying to avoid the spambots.) My office phone is 817-272-0136. Thanks for your consideration!
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