for 12 years this is the routine that Pete Generis has had to accept kidney
dialysis three times a week. As vital as it is, he admits it can wear a guy down. I
mean even in myself I knew that man you know it's taking a toll on my body Pete
has dealt with kidney disease most of his life even receiving kidney
transplants before but this time was different he was told he would almost
certainly reject any donor organ not many people understand all you need a
kidney you get on the list two years later you get your kidney you're fine
you know that's not the story for everybody about 80% of people have had a
previous transplant have actually antibodies against other tissue types
they also could have been exposed to the foreign tissue types by a blood
transfusion or even pregnancy I was devastated shocked I didn't really see
it coming pregnancy delivered a double blow to Anissa swanigan after giving
birth a second time her weakened heart condition advanced the heart failure and
complications scarred her liver so badly it was failing too doctors told her she
needed a double organ transplant that's the only way you're gonna survive she
had two big reasons to survive her two little boys but again high levels of
antibodies made her a very poor transplant candidate antibodies are a
good thing when they help us fight disease vaccines for example trigger our
immune systems to create antibodies but for some of those waiting to receive
life-saving organs Mayo Clinic transplant surgeon and immunology
researcher Mark steagle says antibodies become the enemy it's a big problem
there about 9,000 people in the kidney transplant list in the United States
right now who have really high levels of antibody to the point that they can't
really get a transplant Pete's in that category called highly sensitized so dr.
steagle and his team did a variety of things in advance to tip the odds in his
favor they carefully selected a living donor for which Pete would have the
fewest antibodies also drug research has found a way to reduce antibody caused
rejection rates from 40 percent to less than 10
one of the drugs that we were the first to use the drug called achilles mm if we
give this drug the antibody binds the kidney but it doesn't cause the damage
he'd also went through numerous rounds of an antibody filtering process called
a plasma exchange then to try to halt the production of new antibodies in his
bone marrow dr. steagle turn to an fda-approved
clinical trial at Mayo Clinic using a powerful drug a drug called Velcade
which is actually used in the treatment of cancers of these antibody ting cells
but of course these are not cancer cells these are normal cells and then also
underwent drug and plasma exchange therapies but her antibody levels were
so high doctors worried her body might still
reject the donor organs by the time the liver went in the heart would already be
irreversibly damaged by the antibodies so we reversed the process and did the
liver transplant first why surgical director of heart and lung
transplantation at Mayo Clinic dr. Richard Daley says the liver filters
antibodies in combined kidney liver or heart liver transplants his team had
observed a reduction in antibodies to that donor
however in multiple organ transplants hearts generally have to go in first
because their tissues are more time sensitive how does the Mayo team get
around that choreograph the whole process that we have to have the donor
close enough by we have to have the procurement done
and be really completely ready for the organs when they arrived it seemed
brilliant brilliant minds that they collaborated in and they get together
and be good at the tie to do this thing and I took a chance I didn't have
anything else to lose so neither I stay on dialysis or a miracle happens and I
get this kidney innovation that makes a world of difference one patient at a
time