Living Donor Gifted Lithiasis: Long-Term Outcomes in Recipients

Presence of nephrolithiasis in a living donor has been at least a relative contraindication to living donor nephrectomy. The concern for stone recurrence and outcomes has been one of the reasons for reluctance to consider these medically complex donors. We evaluate long-term outcomes in recipients of kidney grafts from donors with nephrolithiasis, or history of nephrolithiasis, and provide results from our experience at Indiana University.

We retrospectively reviewed 57 donor-recipient pairs, where the allograft was received from a living donor with symptomatic calculi, or with imaging evidence of kidney stones, between 2003 and 2018. This research study was done in compliance with the ethical standards set forth in the Helsinki Congress.

The mean age of recipients was 46±19 years and 58% were male. Kidney recipients were followed for a median of 3.5 years and 59.6% of patients had follow-up imaging studies. None of the recipients had obstructing renal calculi or related infections. None of the recipients required any interventions for recurrent calculi and no stone episode lead to adverse event to the graft. Hyperoxaluria and hypercalciuria were the most common risk factors in 24-hour urine collections obtained from donors.

Our findings from a single large center looking at kidney recipient outcomes over a long follow-up period found that gifted lithiasis is a safe procedure. Careful selection of "medically complex donors" with kidney stones based on appropriate guidelines is a key step. Further studies are needed to help develop consensus guidelines.