Double kidney transplants mooted

Transplanting two kidneys of limited quality could be as good as giving one high-function organ, a study has found

March 11, 2006

Almost 6,500 people in the UK are waiting for an organ transplant

A US short-term study found a 100% survival rate among 19 patients who had double transplants of kidneys earlier rejected for having limited function.

Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina said double transplants could help solve the organ donor shortage.

The study was presented to the US Central Surgical Association.

The organs came from deceased donors, but had been turned down by other centres because they had limited function.

They either came from children and were very small or were from older adults who had begun to lose some kidney function.

Patient selection

Dr Robert Stratta, one of the lead researchers, said a key to success was selecting patients with a lower risk of rejection and matching the estimated function of the kidneys to the needs of the recipient.

Adult transplant recipients were followed up for a period of 20 months, while children were monitored for 10 months.

"It is a viable option in terms of addressing the current organ donor shortage". Raman Dhanda // Royal Liverpool University Hospital

Dr Stratta said: "Performing double transplants using kidneys that would otherwise be discarded may be one viable solution to the growing shortage of organs for transplantation.

"Patients who received double kidney transplants had similar short-term outcomes to patients who received single transplants.

"In our short-term follow-up, we found that we could achieve excellent patient survival and kidney function using marginal kidneys if they are both transplanted into a single recipient."

People are normally born with two kidneys but can manage with about half the capacity of one kidney, depending on their age, size and other factors.

'Technically difficult'

Mr Raman Dhanda, a transplant surgeon at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, told the BBC News website: "This is a procedure which has been rarely used in the UK.

"Part of the reason for that is that it technically difficult."

He said surgeons have two places in the abdomen where they implant new kidneys.

The current preferred option is to leave one space free in case the patient needs a further transplant.

"But it is a viable option in terms of addressing the current organ donor shortage."

Almost 6,500 people in the UK are currently waiting for an organ transplant.

Copyright © 2006 BBC.

This article posted March 28, 2006.