Kidney Donor & Transplant Options
Finding More Paths to Kidney Transplant
There is no single path to kidney transplant. Our team evaluates living and deceased donor options, compatibility, and other approaches that may safely increase your opportunities for transplant.
Living Donor Kidney Transplant
For many patients, a living donor is the best option for kidney transplant.
A living donor can be someone related to you or someone who is not biologically related.
Living donor transplantation may:
- Reduce your time waiting for a kidney
- Make transplant before dialysis possible
- Allow surgery to be planned in advance
Every potential living donor completes a separate evaluation to make sure donation is safe for them.
Explore Living Kidney Donation
Paired Kidney Exchange
If you have a willing living donor who isn't compatible with you, paired kidney exchange may create another path to transplant. Your donor may give a kidney to another compatible recipient while another donor provides a compatible kidney for you.
These exchanges can involve multiple donors and recipients and may extend across transplant centers.
Desensitization
For some patients, medical treatment before transplant may make it possible to receive a kidney from a donor who would otherwise be incompatible. This process is called desensitization.
Whether this is an option depends on your individual immune system and your potential donor. Your transplant team will help determine whether this approach may be appropriate.
Options for Difficult-to-Match Patients
Some patients have antibodies that make it more difficult to find a compatible donor.
Our team evaluates your blood type, antibodies, immune profile, living donor possibilities, and deceased donor options to identify potential paths to transplant.
Adult Dual Kidney Transplant
Sometimes two kidneys from the same deceased donor may be transplanted into one recipient. Individually, these kidneys may not provide enough function. Together, they may provide the kidney function needed for a successful transplant.
For appropriately selected patients, dual kidney transplantation can create an additional opportunity for transplant.
Pediatric En-Bloc Kidney Transplant
Very small kidneys from a pediatric donor may be transplanted together into one recipient. In a pediatric en-bloc kidney transplant, he kidneys are transplanted as a pair and can grow and adapt after transplantation.
This specialized approach can expand the number of donor kidneys available for transplant.
Expanding Deceased Donor Kidney Options
Patients waiting for a kidney transplant may have the opportunity to consider different types of donor kidneys. These may include:
- Kidneys from donation after circulatory death donors
- Kidneys with a higher Kidney Donor Profile Index, or KDPI
- Kidneys from donors with hepatitis B
- Kidneys from donors with hepatitis C
- Kidneys from donors with acute kidney injury
- Kidneys from donors with complex anatomy
Some of these options may increase your opportunity to receive a transplant sooner.
Every donor kidney is carefully evaluated. Your transplant team will explain what is known about an organ, the potential benefits and risks, and what additional treatment or monitoring may be needed.
You always have the right to decide whether to accept a kidney offer.
Understanding Your Options
Not every transplant option is appropriate for every patient.
Our team will consider your health, immune profile, donor options, and individual priorities when helping you understand the safest and most appropriate paths available.