Impact of Discards for Living Donor Kidney Transplantation in a Transplant Program

Detailed Cause of Donor Ineligibility in Living Donor Kidney Transplants: A Retrospective, Single-Center Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

Living kidney donors are evaluated to determine their physical and psychological suitability for transplantation and ensure their safety. During this process, we frequently encounter cases where a donor is found to be ineligible. In this study, we surveyed donors who are ineligible for transplantation at our hospital to educate patients, their families, and medical staff regarding transplantation in the future.

METHODS

We examined the proportion of ineligible donors among 237 potential donors who visited our hospital between January 2002 and March 2022. Data were collected retrospectively from electronic medical records and evaluated from various aspects such as age, body mass index, medical history, medications, and renal function.

RESULTS

The mean age at presentation was 55.5 years, the male-to-female ratio was 1:1.6, and no significant difference was found between the ineligible and eligible donor groups. The transplant ineligibility rate was 23.6%, and the categories were for medical, backout, immunologic, and recipient-related reasons, in descending order. Furthermore, a low glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was the most common cause of medical cases.

CONCLUSIONS

Many patients were judged ineligible because of lifestyle-related diseases such as low GFR, diabetes mellitus, and obesity. Therefore, thorough patient education should be conducted using these data as a reference to reduce the number of donors ineligible because of lifestyle-related diseases.

Sex and Gender Disparities in Living Kidney Donation: A Scoping Review

Background

Women are more likely than men to be living kidney donors. We summarized the evidence concerning the reasons behind sex and gender disparities in living kidney donation (LKD).

Methods

A scoping review of quantitative and qualitative evidence on reasons for sex and gender disparities in LKD was conducted from inception to March 2023.

Results

Of 1123 studies screened, 45 were eligible for inclusion. Most studies were from North America, Europe, and Central Asia (n = 33, 73%). A predominance of women as living donors (55%-65%) was observed in 15 out of 18 (83%) studies. Reasons for sex and gender disparities in LKD included socioeconomic, biological, and cognitive or emotional factors. A gendered division of roles within the families was observed in most studies, with men being the primary income earner and women being the main caregiver. Fear of loss of income was a barrier to male donation. Human leukocyte antigen sensitization through pregnancy in female recipients precluded male partner donation, whereas female donation was supported by altruism and a positive attitude toward LKD.

Conclusions

Sex imbalance in LKD is prevalent, with a predominance of women as living donors. Such disparities are driven by societal and cultural perceptions of gender roles, pregnancy-induced sensitization, and attitudes toward donation and at least some of these factors are modifiable. Donor compensation to support predonation assessments and income loss, implementation of innovative desensitization treatments, promotion of paired kidney exchange program, and targeted educational initiatives to promote equitable living donation may help to close the gender gap in LKD.

Disqualification of Donor and Recipient Candidates From the Living Kidney Donation Program: Experience of a Single-Center in Germany

Background

Kidney transplantation is the best treatment option for patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) with a superiority of graft survival after living kidney donation (LKD) compared to deceased donation. However, a large part of potential donors and recipients are ineligible for LKD. Here, we analyze the leading causes for disqualification of potential living donor-recipient pairs from the LKD program and the health-related consequences for ESKD patients excluded from the LKD program in a German transplant center.

Methods

In this single-center retrospective cohort study we evaluated all candidates (potential donors and recipients) presenting for assessment of LKD from 2012 to 2020 at our transplant center. Thereby we focused on candidates excluded from the LKD program. Main reasons for disqualification were categorized as medical (donor-related), psychosocial, immunological, recipient-related, and unknown.

Results

Overall, 601 donor-recipient pairs were referred to our transplant center for LKD assessment during the observation time. Out of those, 326 (54.2%) discontinued the program with 52 (8.7%) dropouts and 274 (45.6%) donor-recipient pairs being ineligible for LKD. Donor-related medical contraindications were the main reason for disqualification [139 out of 274 (50.7%) potential donors] followed by recipient-related contraindications [60 out of 274 (21.9%) of potential donor-recipient pairs]. Only 77 out of 257 (29.9%) potential recipients excluded from the LKD program received a kidney transplant afterward with a median waiting time of 2 (IQR: 1.0–4.0) years. Overall, 18 (7.0%) ESKD patients initially declined for LKD died in this period.

Conclusion

A large percentage of donor-recipient pairs are disqualified from the German LKD program, mostly due to medical reasons related to the donor and with partly severe consequences for the potential recipients. For these, alternative solutions that promptly enable kidney transplantation are essential for improving patient quality of life and survival.