September 30, 2010

Paired kidney exchange links donors, recipients

Amy Ragsdale and Brenda Copeland have a lot in common.

Both suffered from polycystic kidney disease, an inherited kidney disorder. Both relied on dialysis for survival, needed kidney transplants and had several folks willing to donate. But neither of them had a compatible match among their donor pool.

Luckily the pair had another thing in common — Vanderbilt University Medical Center.