A Kidney Paired Donation Program Simulation

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) Kidney Paired Donation (KPD) Program, managed by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), supports patients with end-stage renal disease who have incompatible living donors. By widening the donor pool through recipient-donor pair exchanges, KPD increases the chance of finding compatible donors. We present a simulation model that combines KPD with desensitization treatments to assess the risks and benefits for matched donors and patients. The simulation model incorporates combinatorial optimization algorithms to match patients with the most compatible donors, considering potential donation declines and simulating the outcomes of successful matches. The simulation output includes patient longevity and desensitization-related adverse effects to help analyze the benefits of the KPD program for those patients facing donor incompatibility.