Increasing the supply of kidneys for transplantation

Kidney transplantation confers a survival advantage for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) when compared to dialysis and improves the quality of life in a cost-effective manner. Currently there are more than 60,000 patients on the U.S. waiting list for kidney transplantation. In 2004, 16,879 kidney transplants, including 880 simultaneous kidney and pancreas transplants, were performed in this country. Recent strategies for increasing the supply of kidneys hold promise, such as systematic programs designed to improve consent rates for deceased donor organ procurement. Efforts to increase donation after cardiac death (DCD) have been highly successful and now account for more than 5% of all deceased organ donors. Transplantation of kidneys from DCD donors yields 1-year graft and patient survival rates equivalent to kidneys from brain-dead donors. Expanded criteria donor (ECD) kidneys from donors > or = 60 years of age (or donors age 50-59 years with certain comorbidities) confer a survival benefit for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients compared to remaining on dialysis on the waiting list. The number of live donor kidney transplants, both from biologically related and unrelated donors, is increasing. Paired live donor kidney transplants provide yet another transplantation opportunity for ESRD patients with willing but incompatible (by ABO or direct antibody) living donors.