Marginal living donor in kidney transplantation: experience in a Chinese single center

Living donor kidney transplantation is becoming popular in China, whereas, in clinical situations, some kidney donors may be sub-optimal, namely marginal living donor. The present study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of marginal living donor kidney transplantation in a Chinese single center.

Between January 2001 and December 2009, 888 kidney transplantations were performed in our center; 149 were living donor kidney transplantations. The living donors and recipients were followed up regularly after the operation. Of the living donors, 30 donors were marginal, who were older than 60 years or suffered from kidney anomaly or some benign diseases. Among the non-marginal living kidney transplantations, 58 donors and recipients had complete perioperative and follow-up data. We compared the marginal and non-marginal living donor kidney transplantations with regard to donor age, follow-up period, donor's serum creatinine at the last follow-up, recipient's serum creatinine at the last follow-up, and graft survival at the last follow-up.

The mean age of donors in the marginal and non-marginal living donors were (55 ± 9) (37-66) and (43 ± 12) (30-59) years. The mean follow-up times of the marginal and non-marginal groups were (26.4 ± 13.4) months and (28.8 ± 14.8) months. The donor and recipient serum creatinine levels at the last follow-up were (1.16 ± 0.20) mg/dl and (1.30 ± 0.24) mg/dl in the marginal group, and (1.12 ± 0.32) mg/dl and (1.34 ± 0.32) mg/dl in the non-marginal group. Three recipients in the marginal group and five recipients in the non-marginal group had acute rejection episodes during the first year. Actuarial 3-year graft survival was 96.7% in the marginal group and 100% in the non-marginal group. No significant differences were detected between the two groups with regard to these data.

Utilization of highly selective marginal living donors can be a safe, feasible, and effective way for the treatment of patients with end stage renal disease.