A 65-year-old man identified as K received a kidney transplant from his sibling in 1989 at age 28 after his kidney function failed. After 37 years, the transplanted kidney lost its function. His wife donated her kidney despite having blood type AB, incompatible with his type B. The second transplant succeeded without rejection thanks to pretreatment procedures by specialized medical staff.
The Catholic University of Korea's Seoul St. Mary's Hospital announced on the 24th that it has completed 500 cases of blood type-incompatible kidney transplants, considered highly difficult procedures due to mismatched blood types between donors and recipients.
The milestone comes 16 years and 9 months after the hospital's first successful blood type-incompatible kidney transplant in May 2009. Previously, kidney transplants from blood type-incompatible donors were difficult to perform due to rejection risks. Advances in desensitization treatment technology that effectively removes blood type-related antibodies have made such procedures possible.
At a gathering on the 24th to celebrate K's discharge, his wife said she "naturally thought she should donate to her husband." K shed tears, saying he felt "heartbroken yet deeply grateful" for her sacrifice. K's second daughter added, "As soon as we heard our caring father might need a kidney transplant, not only my mother but also my married older sister and I were all ready to donate." K expressed his "sincere gratitude to the Seoul St. Mary's Hospital medical team and all staff who did their best throughout the treatment process."
Seoul St. Mary's Hospital's kidney transplant history dates back to March 25, 1969, when Myeongdong St. Mary's Hospital performed Korea's first successful kidney transplant. The hospital has led the domestic kidney transplant field by successfully performing complex transplants, including blood type-incompatible cases, highly sensitized patients with antibodies that strongly react to transplanted organs, and patients with intractable blood disorders. The hospital attributed these achievements to organic collaboration among multiple departments including vascular transplant surgery, nephrology, urology, laboratory medicine, and pathology, as well as the specialized coordinator team at the Organ Transplant Center and their accumulated experience.
Analysis of the 500 cases at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital shows the proportion of blood type-incompatible transplants among all living donor kidney transplants has risen from an initial 10% to 35% currently. Spousal pairs were the most common recipient-donor relationship, accounting for more than half of all 500 cases. This exceeds the 35% spousal ratio in overall living donor transplants. Patients aged 65 and older comprised 7% (34 cases), with the oldest recipient being 73 years old. High-risk cases involving both high sensitization and blood type incompatibility numbered 87 (17%). Second transplants totaled 52 cases, and third transplants numbered 5 cases.
Graft survival rates—where transplanted kidneys maintain function without dialysis or re-transplantation—were 98% at one year, 94% at five years, and 85% at ten years post-transplant. These results match those of standard living donor kidney transplants despite blood type differences between donors and recipients.
Park Soon-chul, Director of the Organ Transplant Center and professor of vascular transplant surgery, said, "The introduction of blood type-incompatible kidney transplants has opened new options for patients who previously could not receive transplants due to lack of donors." He added, "We expect this to become more widely practiced as essential medications and testing methods continue to advance."