CHICAGO -- Researchers are reporting a high success rate in a novel kidney-swap program.

It's a live-donor practice involving matching up a patient who needs a kidney with a compatible stranger. In return, the patient lines up a friend or relative willing to also donate an organ to a stranger.

Johns Hopkins University researchers tracked 22 patients who received kidneys from living strangers. Only one transplant failed, and that was because of clotting problems not related to organ rejection.

The findings are published in Wednesday's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

There are 63,275 patients in United States waiting for kidney transplants, according to a news release from Johns Hopkins. In many parts of the country, patients wait three to five years for a deceased donor organ.

Over the past decade, the number of live donors has tripled, making it now the most common source of kidneys for transplantation. But tissue and blood type incompatibilities create barriers.

"The momentum is increasing for a national program," said study co-author Dr. Robert Montgomery, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. "This is especially important because it offers hope to patients who have compatibility issues that make it difficult for them to find suitable donors."

There is a national network already in place that matches deceased-donor kidneys with compatible recipients. Proponents say a national program for living donors could help relieve the organ shortage and cut costs by getting people off dialysis.

• More Details: Study Abstract | Editorial Extract