The spleen is not necessary for life, it is part of your immune system. You can remove it but you are at higher risk for infections, especially certain bacteria

The spleen is not necessary for life, it is part of your immune system. You can remove it but you are at higher risk for infections, especially certain bacteria. We mitigate this risk by vaccinating against some of these. Basically, as another poster indicated. The spleen was removed to make room for the kidney, which is what she really needed. Edit: From what I've read what makes this newsworthy is that they implanted the kidney into the splenic vasculature. The title of this is very misleading.