[Assessment of renal function of living kidney donors]

Assessment of renal function of living kidney donors. After donation, glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of the donor is on average 75% of its predonation value, by the mean of a compensatory response of the remaining kidney. The GFR thresholds used to define kidney disease in the general population do not apply to living donors. For donors, the risk of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) is much lower than that of the general population but higher than that of a healthy non-donor population. Most cases of ESKD are due to diabetes and hypertension that occur more than 10 years after donation. Living kidney donors should be healthy at the time of donation and should benefit from an extended annual follow-up for kidney disease screening. The GFR must be measured by an exogenous tracer for all living kidney donors. The value of GFR must be interpreted according to the age of the candidate. The predicted risk of ESKD in the absence of kidney donation may be helpful to guide the decision.