[Kidney transplantation from living related donors: experiences from one center]

Living related donor (LRD) renal transplantation has remained underdeveloped in France up until now. The reduction of the number of available grafts and especially the superiority of the results of LRD transplants recently led us to develop this type of transplantation. We present the retrospective analysis of our experience of 63 cases from March 1973 to June 1995. The actuarial graft survival rate was 91% at 1 year and 87% at 3, 5 and 10 years. The 5- and 10-year survival rates of HLS-identical transplants (n = 17) was 100%. The donor morbidity was minimal (2 cases of parietal suppuration, 1 pulmonary atelectasis). These results emphasize the superiority of LRD transplantation, which also has the advantage of allowing transplantation of hyperimmunized patients in whom the waiting time for a brain-dead donor kidney is long and unpredictable.