The living kidney donor. Alive and well

Abstract

The results of cardaveric renal transplantation have markedly improved in recent years. Concurrently, a few long-term follow-up studies of living kidney donors found an increased incidence of proteinuria and hypertension. As a result, some have argued that living donors should no longer be the preferred source of kidneys. To see if transplant centers are moving away from the use of living donors, we sent a questionnaire to all US transplant centers. The results of our survey show that rather than becoming extinct, living donors are still the preferred source of kidneys at most US transplant centers. In fact, new ways are being sought to increase the supply of living kidney donors.