Virtual microscopy improves sharing of deceased donor kidneys

Donor kidney biopsies used for offer evaluation may lengthen cold ischemia time. Our organ procurement organization began processing wedge biopsies and having them read using virtual microscopy (VM), as opposed to its prior routine of processing/reading at local hospitals. We hypothesized that VM would decrease time to biopsy results and kidney acceptance.

All donor kidneys biopsied over 1 year were compared with those biopsied during the previous year (n = 43, 40).

Time to biopsy result was shortened using VM (5:04 vs 6:30, P = .04), and especially for those cases with cross-clamp between 5 pm and 5 am (4:49 vs 8:12, P < .01). Time to local acceptance was also significantly improved using VM for both the entire group (7:01 vs 9:52, P < .01) and the overnight subset (7:25 vs 11:10, P < .01).

Use of VM decreased time to biopsy result, with the most prominent effects seen during the overnight hours, resulting in shortened time to local acceptance of organs.