Researchers at Johns Hopkins University find a kidney-exchange program is turning up positive results. The live-donor practice involves matching up a patient who needs a kidney with a compatible stranger. In return, the patient recruits a friend or relative willing to donate an organ to a stranger.

Researchers tracked 22 patients who received kidneys from living strangers. Only one transplant failed, due to clotting problems unrelated to organ rejection.

A Johns Hopkins news release numbers 63,275 patients in the United States waiting for kidney transplants, some waiting three to five years for an organ from a deceased donor.

Over the past decade, the number of live donors has reportedly tripled, currently making it the most common source of kidneys for transplants.

Study co-author Dr. Robert Montgomery, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, says, "The momentum is increasing for a national program. 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. A similar program for living donors could help relieve the organ shortage and cut costs by getting people off dialysis.

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