Surgeons at Johns Hopkins Hospital transplanted six kidneys simultaneously, which hospital officials believe is the first of its kind.
 
The transplants were made possible when an altruistic donor, who was willing to donate to anyone, was a match for one of the six transplant candidates. Five of the recipients had a willing donor who was incompatible with their particular donor, but a match for one of the six.
 
The donors and recipients involved in these transplants were matched using a living donor matching system developed at John Hopkins.

This article originally appeared in the May 2008 issue of Kidney Transplant Today.