Couples exchange kidneys in landmark 'paired' transplant

Peter Horrell donated a kidney to a Scottish man, whose wife donated one to Mr Horrell's wife, Roma.

The landmark transplants, which took place on the same day in hospitals hundreds of miles apart, are the first to be performed in Britain involving living donors who are completely unknown to the recipients.

The recipients' own partners had hoped to donate a kidney but were not a suitable match.

Surgeons hope the pioneering 'paired donation' procedure could benefit 200 patients a year. Mr and Mrs Horrell, from Cambridgeshire, and the Scottish couple, who do not wish to be named, are the first to take advantage of a database which pairs couples in their situation with others who provide a match.

Mrs Horrell, 57, received her kidney at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge on July 4. It had been removed from the Scottish man's wife hours earlier in Edinburgh and flown down.

The plane returned with the kidney which had just been removed from 55-year-old Mr Horrell and which was immediately transplanted into the Scottish man at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

For him, this was a second transplant after a kidney from a dead donor failed four years ago.

His wife said: "The first transplant was a brilliant Christmas present and this one arrived just in time for our wedding anniversary. What a gift to get.

"Swopping one of my kidneys for one that can give my husband his life back is a small price to pay. I would urge anyone else in our position to consider the paired donor programme as a way of completely changing the lives of two people."

Mrs Horrell said last night that her life had improved "enormously" since the transplant.

Months earlier, during painful treatment, she had told doctors she wanted to die.

"I can eat what I want, I can enjoy cooking, we can go on holiday," she said. "Life is normal again. I feel as though I've got hope for the future."

Until now, transplants involving a living donor have been allowed only between couples or others with a "close emotional relationship".

But a change in the rules means strangers can now donate to each other. The new database will enable strangers to be matched with others willing to donate a kidney.

Transplants on a second couple are already planned, with a third in the pipeline.

Adrian McNeil, chief executive of the Human Tissue Authority, said: "I am delighted that two couples can now lead a normal life.

"The arrival of paired donation is a landmark that signals new hope for people waiting for organs."

A transplant can improve a patient's life immeasurably. There are 6,487 on the British kidney transplant waiting list.

While waiting for a transplant, patients must undergo dialysis up to seven times a week.

Last year, 1,440 kidneys were donated from dead people and 690 from living donors.

A growing number are opting to donate a kidney to a relative, but around one in three are not matched. It is these people who would benefit from the paired donation scheme, allowing them to link up with a couple in a similar situation who have a tissue and blood type match.

So far 31 couples are on the database, but surgeons hope the number will rise.

They say the system will initially allow 50 extra transplants a year, but this should rise to 200 once it beds in.

Paired transplants have already been carried out in parts of the U.S. and in the Netherlands.

The couples do not meet before the transplants go ahead, to minimise pressure on donors. But they are free to meet afterwards.

The Scottish couple said they would like to meet Mr and Mrs Horrell at some point.

The wife said: "It would be nice to see how my donation has worked and to thank them for their donation."