Once your name has been placed on the waiting list for a new kidney, it may take several months or longer to locate the right one for you.

The "waiting list" is actually a nationwide computerized network called UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing), to which all transplant centers in the United States belong. UNOS, which is supervised by the federal government, helps to ensure that patients throughout the country receive healthy organs as soon as they become available. If at all possible, priority is given to patients who are the sickest and those who have waited the longest. If you are sick enough to require intensive care. UNOS will assign you the highest priority-Status 1. As soon as UNOS tells your Transplant Team that the appropriate kidney has become available for you, the team will let you know immediately.

All patients awaiting organ transplantation are registered and listed nationally with UNOS. Local and regional lists may also be accessed from this master list. For example: a local list may include patients from several hospitals within a geographic area that is "covered" by one organ-procurement organization; the larger regional list may include all patients in several counties or even several states.

All kidneys available for transplantation are initially registered with the UNOS national computer to determine whether there is perfectly matched recipient listed. When patients awaiting transplant are entered into the UNOS computer, their HLA characteristics are also registered.

Everyone has at least 6 important antigens; a "perfect match" occurs when the donor's 6 antigens match those of the recipient. Siblings have the greatest chance of being a perfect match because they have the same parents; a parent automatically shares at least 3 antigens with a child.