Living Unrelated Kidney Transplantation: Does It Prevent Deceased-Donor Kidney Transplantation Growth?

It is usually assumed that an active livingdonor transplant program inhibits the growth of a deceased-donor kidney transplant program. In our 33-year experience, we found the contrary to be true.

From 1984 until 2017, we performed a total of 4966 kidney transplant procedures. All cases were registered through the Collaborating Transplant Study (Heidelberg, Germany).

During the first 16 years, only living-donor kidney transplant procedures were done. Our first unrelated living-donor kidney transplant procedure was in 1986 and involved a wife to husband donation. This breakthrough in our country was the first in our unrelated living-donor kidney transplant program. In 2000, the Iranian Parliament passed the deceased-donor transplant act, and we have started deceased-donor kidney transplants since then. Despite a jam-packed living-donor kidney transplant program, our deceased-donor kidney transplant program has grown steadily since then and now comprises more than 50% of our kidney transplant procedures. When we compared the outcome of these programs, the 5-year survival from Collaborating Transplant Study report of 3527 cases of 114 living-related donor procedures was 90%. The 5-year survival rates for living unrelated-donor (n = 2689) and deceased-donor (n = 724) transplant procedures were 88% and 83%, respectively (P = .001).

Our data showed that deceased-donor kidney transplant procedures have steadily increased despite an active unrelated living-donor kidney transplant program. Wait lists for kidney transplant can be significantly reduced by following our model, both in developed and in developing countries.