Criteria for Living Donation from Marginal Donors: One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand

The increasing need for kidney grafts has led to a progressive expansion in the selection criteria for deceased and living donors (LDs). While concerns regarding the use of organs from suboptimal deceased donors relate to the quality of the graft, donation from "marginal" LDs may pose potential harm to the donor. Subject of Review: Living kidney donation is a safe procedure, but is associated with a small risk of end-stage kidney disease in the long- term. When elderly subjects and those with comorbidities are considered, long-term post-donation data are missing, making decisions regarding donation from these populations challenging. Further, vague guidelines have led to a wide heterogeneity in the criteria for living donation from marginal donors across centers and individuals. A recent survey by Lafranca et al. [PLoS One 2017;12:e0181846] collected information from 331 members (mainly physicians) of the European Society of Transplantation regarding several expanded LD criteria. Median refusal rate for potential expanded criteria (ECD) LDs is 15% and the authors found significant differences across regions in Europe in the acceptance of donors with ECD. Some transplant specialists did also deviate from their own transplant center policy, mainly to consider donors with high body mass index. Second Opinion: The survey by Lafranca et al. [PLoS One 2017;12:e0181846] documents extreme variability in the criteria for marginal LD selection. Many centers are deviating from the few agreed upon guideline criteria and are considering individuals with hypertension and minors for kidney donation. Intriguingly, one-fourth of the surgeons even deviate occasionally from center policy, especially when the issue is donor obesity. By and large, these data indicate that transplant community has a generally open approach toward extension of criteria for living donation, but long-term follow-up studies are needed to draw solid conclusions and guidelines.