July 14, 1999
Redmond resident donates a kidney to her Kirkland sister using new minimally invasive surgery at UW Medical Center
“As close as sisters.” It’s a familiar phrase, but two Eastside sisters now have more in common than they ever imagined they’d have: they’re sharing one set of kidneys. Dawn Smith of Redmond is recovering comfortably at home, after receiving a kidney from her sister, Dennice Henshaw of Kirkland, who is also recovering well.
Dr. Lucy Wrenshall, a transplant surgeon at University of Washington Medical Center, performed the surgery to remove the precious donor kidney from Henshaw. The kidney was carried to the adjoining operating room, where Wrenshall’s husband, Dr. Brian Stevens, transplanted it into Smith, whose own kidneys had failed because of diabetes. The transplant will free Smith from her dependence on dialysis.
The donation was made easier in part because of Wrenshall’s experience at removing the donor kidney using a minimally invasive surgical technique called laparoscopic nephrectomy.
“The traditional open surgery requires an approximately nine-inch incision,” said Wrenshall. “In contrast, the laparoscopic technique uses three tiny incisions where the instruments are inserted, and one three- to four-inch incision through which the kidney is retrieved. The shorter recovery time after donating is a major benefit.”
Henshaw, 38, said the availability of the minimally invasive procedure made it easy for her to make the decision to donate one of her kidneys to her sister. She was able to leave the hospital after just two days, while Smith, 39, who required the traditional larger incision to receive the kidney, was hospitalized four days. Appropriately, she was discharged on Independence Day, the Fourth of July.
“We hope that, as people learn of this less invasive option for kidney removal, more people will consider becoming living donors,” said Wrenshall. Advances in controlling organ rejection now make possible transplants between people who are less than perfect antigen matches, she said.
However, in the case of Henshaw and Smith, they matched perfectly on six out of six antigen factors.
National statistics compiled by UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing, tell of the compelling need for more living kidney donors. More than 40,000 people being kept alive by kidney dialysis are currently listed on the kidney-transplant waiting list. In 1996, the most recent year for which statistics are available, there were just 3,553 living donors and 5,417 cadaver donors.
Wrenshall has performed more than 20 minimally invasive kidney retrievals — the most in the Northwest — since joining the UW faculty in 1997. She and her husband met during their transplant fellowships at the University of Minnesota, where both received their Ph.D.s. Wrenshall received her M.D. from Pennsylvania State University, and Stevens received his M.D. from the University of California at Davis.
