Living donor evaluation and exclusion: the Stanford experience

The proportion of prospective living donors disqualified for medical reasons is unknown. The objective of this study is to delineate and quantify specific reasons for exclusion of prospective living donors from kidney donation.

All adult prospective kidney donors who contacted our transplant program between October 1, 2007 and April 1, 2009 were included in our analysis (n = 484). Data were collected by review of an electronic transplant database.

Of the 484 prospective donors, 39 (8%) successfully donated, 229 (47%) were excluded, 104 (22%) were actively undergoing evaluation, and 112 (23%) were withdrawn before evaluation was complete. Criteria for exclusion were medical (n = 150), psychosocial (n = 22), or histocompatibility (n = 57) reasons. Of the 150 prospective donors excluded for medical reasons, 79% were excluded because of obesity, hypertension, nephrolithiasis, and/or abnormal glucose tolerance. One hundred and forty-seven (61%) intended recipients had only one prospective living donor, of whom 63 (42%) were excluded.

A significant proportion of prospective living kidney donors were excluded for medical reasons such as obesity (body mass index >30), hypertension, nephrolithiasis, and abnormal glucose tolerance. Longer-term studies are needed to characterize the risks to medically complex kidney donors and the potential risks and benefits afforded to recipients.