Pediatric en bloc kidney transplantation into pediatric recipients

As a result of the ongoing shortage in organ supply, en bloc renal transplantation from small donors has become more common for adult recipients with ESRD. However, because of concern for higher complication rates and sub-optimal outcomes, it is not being performed in every center, and data describing its use in pediatric recipients are even more limited. We retrospectively studied three patients who have undergone en bloc renal transplantation at our center. Median age at transplantation was 16.7 yr with a median follow-up of 1.2 yr. Donor age ranged from nine to 49 months with weight ranging from 10 to 22 kg. There were no post-operative thrombotic complications. All grafts showed increased renal size at follow-up by ultrasound. There was no clinical or histological rejection at last follow-up. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the outcomes of en bloc kidney transplantation from pediatric donors into pediatric recipients. Based on our experience, albeit very limited, we feel that en bloc renal transplantation from young donors is an acceptable and safe procedure with low complication rates in pediatric recipients and should be given consideration to minimize wait times on the wait list and to improve quality of life.