Kidney exchange

Kidney exchange coordinates incompatible living kidney donor–recipient pairs so donors give kidneys to compatible recipients in other pairs, enabling transplants that otherwise could not occur.

Kidney paired donation: A transplant arrangement in which incompatible donor–recipient pairs exchange kidneys with one another. It is the basic form of kidney exchange, typically matching two incompatible pairs.
Kidney transplantation: A surgical procedure that places a donor kidney into a recipient whose kidneys cannot adequately sustain health. Exchange exists to make living-donor kidney transplantation possible for otherwise incompatible pairs.
National Kidney Registry: A United States nonprofit organization that coordinates kidney exchanges among transplant centers. It organizes a large pool of pairs and donors to expand possible matches.
Kidney allocation: The process of assigning donated kidneys to people awaiting transplantation. Exchange pools create allocation choices alongside deceased-donor allocation systems.
Compatibility graph: A directed graph representing possible donor-to-recipient transplantations as edges between donor–recipient pairs. It turns each pair’s compatible donation options into a structure that matching algorithms can optimize.
Living kidney donation: The donation of one kidney by a living person for transplantation into another person. Exchange relies on donors who are willing and medically able to donate while their intended recipients receive kidneys.
Alliance for Paired Donation: A nonprofit organization that facilitates paired kidney donation in the United States. Its exchange program shows how matching can be coordinated across multiple transplant centers.
Ethics of organ transplantation: The moral principles and disputes concerning organ donation, allocation, and transplantation. Exchange raises questions about fairness, donor risk, and the treatment of unmatched pairs.
Cycle (graph theory): A path in a graph that returns to its starting vertex without repeating other vertices. A cycle represents a simultaneous chain of kidney donations among several incompatible pairs.
ABO blood group system: A classification of blood based on the presence or absence of A and B antigens on red blood cells. ABO incompatibility is one reason an intended donor cannot directly donate to a recipient.

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