Increasing the supply of cadaveric kidneys for transplantation

The number of cadaveric kidneys currently available for transplantation is insufficient. Therefore, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) undertook a collaborative project with the two transplant programs in Georgia to increase te retrieval of cadaveric kidneys. We used retrospective analysis to select productive hospitals, hospital-specific surveillance systems to identify potential donors, and procurement and retrieval evaluation to identify preventable deficiencies. During 900 hospital months of prospective surveillance, we identified a total of 555 potential donors by death record review, giving a potential donor rate of 2.3 donors/100 deaths (110 kidneys/million population/year). We observed an increase in the number of referrals, consent obtained from next of kin, and kidneys retrieved. This period of intensive activity demonstrated that additional kidneys can be retrieved by using systematic methods.