By Dan Klepal
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A $2.3 million renovation to Christ Hospital's Kidney Transplant Center will allow more transplants with shorter stays at one of the two Cincinnati hospitals performing adult kidney transplants.

Only Christ and University hospitals perform adult kidney transplants. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center also performs the procedure.

The renovated area offers 26 state-of-the-art beds with pressure-controlled mattresses to prevent bedsores and built-in scales for weight measurement - critical in the care of kidney recipients.

It also will house a six-bed outpatient clinic, which is the key to reducing the amount of time patients stay in those beds.

"Some things need to be done in transplant patients, such as the intravenous infusion of a medication," said Dr. Michael Cardi, medical director of transplantations at the hospital.

"Sometimes we're unable to discharge a patient because they need one more dose in 10 or 12 hours. Now we'll be able to discharge them and bring them back as an outpatient."

Built-in scales in the new beds are important for kidney transplant recipients because doctors have to monitor closely how much liquid goes into the patients and how much urine comes out.

Christ Hospital started performing kidney transplants in 1972 - when the one-year success rate for a transplant recipient was about 50 percent. Today, it is 95 percent.

The hospital set its own record last year by performing 76 transplants. It is on a pace to perform about 100 this year, Dr. Cardi said.

The hospital is also performing more living-donor transplants than ever before - more than 60 percent since 2000.

E-mail dklepal@enquirer.com