Kidney Transplantation in United States Native Americans: Breaking Barriers

Advances in the field of solid-organ transplantation (SOT), namely evolution of surgical techniques, developments in immunosuppressive therapies and efforts to maximize utilization of donor allografts (deceased and living), have resulted in growing numbers of SOT performed annually in the United States (U.S.) (36,529 total organs and 21,167 kidneys transplanted in 2018). However, the Native American/American Indian (NA/AI) people of the U.S. experience enormous socioeconomic barriers such as poverty, lack of adequate healthcare, poor health literacy and geographic isolation which limit access to SOT resulting in low rates of organ donation and transplantation, poor quality of life and shorter life expectancy. The NA/AI population is at increased risk for end-stage renal disease secondary to the high prevalence of diabetes mellitus. We review existing challenges to kidney transplantation in NA/AI patients and discuss potential solutions which could improve equitable delivery of specialized healthcare to this underprivileged population.