Miami Transplant Institute performs 2-way paired kidney exchange among two couples – NBC 6 South Florida

Two lives were saved at once after a paired kidney exchange at the Miami Transplant Institute.

Doctors diagnosed Michael Deitado with chronic kidney disease when he was 28 years old. Fast forward 29 years, he was in desperate need of a kidney transplant. His wife, Astrid, was a perfect kidney donor match, but her kidneys were too small.

Fabiana Castro Troya was an international patient and also needed a kidney transplant. Her husband, Enrique, signed up for Miami Transplant Institute’s paired kidney exchange program, which matches willing donors for one patient with willing donors for another patient, swapping the kidneys and saving two lives at once.

Astrid also signed up for the program, and in 2023, MTI said she was Fabiana’s perfect match, and Enrique was Michael’s perfect match.

In March, the kidney transplant team performed a two-way paired kidney exchange robotically using the da Vinci Surgical System, the first in MTI’s history.

On Wednesday, all four met in Miami for the first time to celebrate their labor of love.

“It was something that I wanted to do and I feel proud,” Astrid said. “I feel really healthy, I feel good and I feel that I did something for another human being.”