Chain kidney donation largest in Mayo Clinic history, Tom Dinsdale should have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.  

The 72-year-old Mid-Iowan’s kidneys failed in April while undergoing a skin-graft procedure for burns on his arms, but his son, Andrew, 23, donated a kidney through an innovative process called a chain donation, and Tom was able to avoid long-term dialysis treatment and the six-year-long donor waiting list…

Dr. Mikel Prieto, a general surgeon at the Mayo Clinic Transplant Center, has worked in the kidney transplant field for 25 years. He performed Mayo’s first laparoscopic procedure back in 1999, and said the benefits of a live kidney donation, as opposed to receiving a kidney from a cadaver, are numerous.

Ames Tribune by Dan Wright, 11/24/09

Tags: kidney chain transplant, Transplant, Urology