Two local residents are among those who will help the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland reach new fundraising heights this week when they rappel off a building in downtown Baltimore for the foundation's third annual Rappel for Kidney Health event.

The fundraiser will take place Saturday, June 9, at the 32-story Baltimore Marriott Waterfront.

Barbara Case, of Timonium, is a pediatric nephrology nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital, who said she put the rappelling challenge on her "to do" list last year after watching others at the event.

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"I have to admit that the thought of rappelling 32 stories terrifies me, but it's the challenge and the good cause that grabbed me," she said. "Honestly, just knowing that I am raising funds to help the children that I work with every day is so rewarding."

Also taking the challenge will be Dr. Matthew Cooper, of Cockeysville, an associate professor of surgery and director of both kidney transplantation and clinical research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine Division of Transplantation. Cooper participated in the event last year as well.

Participants must raise $1,000, and receive a fundraising web page, a rappelling time slot and undergo training on the day of the event before stepping off.

Funds raised through Rappel for Kidney Health support patient services, education and research efforts. The first two Rappel for Kidney Health events drew 135 participants and raised more than $180,000.

To support a participant, receive information about sponsorship or see videos of last year's event, go to http://www.kidneymd.org or call 410-494-8545.

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WALTHAM, Mass.—A renal allograft was removed from a 27-year-old man on post-transplantation day 14 and donated to a 66-year-old man on the waiting list after the first patient suffered persistent proteinuria, worsening hypoalbuminemia, rising creatinine, and the development of intraabdominal hematoma beginning on posttransplantation day 2.

Both patients and the hospital ethics committee and internal review board consented to the transfer. The allograft, originally donated by the younger man's sister, regained function immediately after retransplantation, with serum creatinine levels declining from 5.27 to 1.84 mg/dL and proteinuria falling from 25 g to 1.2 g per 24 hours, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine

Biopsies performed on days 8 and 25 after retransplantation showed a reversal of the histopathologic lesions seen developing in the first recipient. Eight months after retransplantation, the second recipient's glomerular filtration rate remained above 90 mL/min/1.73m² in the setting of mild proteinuria (0.27 g per 24 hours).

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