There is a severe shortage of kidney's available compared to the number of people on the transplant waiting list. One solution to this shortage is to consider living donors who volunteer to help. Living kidney donation has become an essential part of transplantation practice and the number of living transplants in the UK has doubled in the past ten years.
It is generally accepted that transplantation from a living donor offers the best treatment option for patients with renal failure. This gives a chance to avoid long periods on the transplant waiting list and also enables pre-emptive transplantation, when the transplant occurs before the start of dialysis.
Living kidney donor transplants on average are more successful than deceased donor kidney transplants. Kidney's from living kidney donors almost invariably start to work immediately after the operation, and tend to last longer than those from deceased donors. The survival rate after 5 years is approximately 98% and up to 88% of patients remain off dialysis for ten years or more following transplant.
There have been two significant contributions in recent years to increasing transplant numbers which are:
Development of a blood group incompatible transplant programme. Previously a donor with a incompatible blood group would have been turned down as the kidney would have rejected. Recent techniques have become available to reduce or remove the antibodies against the blood group so the transplant may now be possible.
Development of the National Living Donor Kidney Sharing Schemes. When a living kidney donor and recipient are incompatible with each other it may be possible for them to be matched with another donor and recipient pair in the same situation and for the donor kidney's to be 'exchanged' or 'swapped'. The benefit of this type of donation is that each recipient receives a kidney transplant from a living donor that they would not have otherwise had.
Transplants are performed on a range of donor/recipient 'pairs' including friends, relatives, couples (husband, wife and partner) and acquaintances. A living donor transplant is only carried out after the transplant team is satisfied that the donor and recipient are fully informed about the risks and benefits of the procedure.
Living Kidney Transplants are where a new kidney has been donated to a patient by someone who is alive.
This page has more information about how this works.
It is generally accepted that transplantation from a living donor offers the best treatment option for patients with renal failure. This gives a chance to avoid long periods on the transplant waiting list and also enables pre-emptive transplantation, when the transplant occurs before the start of dialysis.
Living kidney donor transplants on average are more successful than deceased donor kidney transplants. Kidney's from living kidney donors almost invariably start to work immediately after the operation, and tend to last longer than those from deceased donors. The survival rate after 5 years is approximately 98% and up to 88% of patients remain off dialysis for ten years or more following transplant.
There have been two significant contributions in recent years to increasing transplant numbers which are:
Development of a blood group incompatible transplant programme. Previously a donor with a incompatible blood group would have been turned down as the kidney would have rejected. Recent techniques have become available to reduce or remove the antibodies against the blood group so the transplant may now be possible.
Development of the National Living Donor Kidney Sharing Schemes. When a living kidney donor and recipient are incompatible with each other it may be possible for them to be matched with another donor and recipient pair in the same situation and for the donor kidney's to be 'exchanged' or 'swapped'. The benefit of this type of donation is that each recipient receives a kidney transplant from a living donor that they would not have otherwise had.
Transplants are performed on a range of donor/recipient 'pairs' including friends, relatives, couples (husband, wife and partner) and acquaintances. A living donor transplant is only carried out after the transplant team is satisfied that the donor and recipient are fully informed about the risks and benefits of the procedure.
Jean Shallcross - Nurse Clinician/Living Donor Coordinator: Direct 0151 706 5880
Ann Strong - Living Donor Coordinator: Direct 0151 706 4725
Living Donor Coordinator
The role of the Living Donor Co-Ordinator team at The Royal Liverpool Hospital is to raise awareness of living donation as a treatment option for renal patients and their families, as well as the multidisciplinary team. The co-ordinator supports all potential living kidney donors throughout the process planning, the assesment programme and ensuring they have all the information they need to make an informed choice.