Unexpected Medical Conditions Discovered During Live Donor Kidney Evaluation: Single Center Study

Living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) is the preferred method of treatment for patients with end-stage kidney disease. Potential living kidney donors (PLKD) are evaluated through a thorough medical, psychological and surgical work-up to ensure successful transplantation with minimal risks to all parties involved. The transplant center at Rhode Island Hospital has noticed an increasing number of PLKDs excluded from donation due to conditions newly diagnosed during the screening process. Our objective is to understand the local trends underlying the high PLKD exclusion rates in the context of newly diagnosed conditions, age, race, and sex of the excluded donors.

Our study is a retrospective electronic medical record review of the 429 PLKDs screened at Rhode Island Hospital Kidney Transplant Center between December 2012 and April 2023. Age, race, gender, relationship to recipient, and reasons for exclusion were collected from the medical record for each PLKD.

115 of the 429 total PLKDs screened were excluded for newly diagnosed conditions, the most common of which were renal issues (49%), diabetes mellitus (33%), and hypertension (13%), with many comorbid diagnoses. While these donors were able to receive proper treatment after their diagnosis, the earliest intervention possible yields the best prognosis. The high prevalence of treatable yet undiagnosed conditions raise many public health concerns, such as primary care gaps or discontinuous healthcare, and increases awareness about the importance of follow-up care for the excluded PLKDs.