Living Kidney Donation: An Update

Living donor kidney transplantation offers superior long-term outcomes compared to deceased donor transplantation. However, ensuring long-term donor safety remains the primary objective of the clinical assessment process. Pre-donation risk evaluation can be challenging, particularly in specific borderline scenarios where evidence is limited.

This review explores several critical aspects of the decision-making process in living kidney donor (LKD) assessment. It addresses how to evaluate potential donors with complex medical or psychosocial profiles, including those with obesity, advanced age, psychiatric histories, or past substance use. The review also emphasizes the importance of using accurate and reliable tools for donor evaluation, such as measured glomerular filtration rate, particularly in cases with borderline kidney function, and discusses the growing role of genetic testing as it becomes more accessible. Furthermore, it considers how socioeconomic, cultural, and religious factors can influence both the willingness to donate and the likelihood of being selected as a donor. Lastly, the review underscores the essential role of long-term follow-up in safeguarding donor health and optimizing outcomes.

To safely expand the pool of eligible LKDs, it is essential to use precise evaluation tools, ensure and enable long-term follow-up, and promote research to improve risk stratification and guide decision-making. In this review, we update information in the evaluation of LKDs highlighting gaps in current knowledge and practice.