Collaboration between deceased donor, kidney transplant teams may maximize kidney use
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Key takeaways:
- Among potential donors in the study, 82% were eligible.
- Of overall eligible donors, 91% donated.
An integrated deceased donor and kidney transplant service approach to care may play a key role in maximizing the use of deceased donor kidneys, according to results of a published study.
Collaboration “between organ procurement organizations and transplant programs may help maximize the utility of the limited supply of deceased donor kidneys,” Lachlan C. McMichael, MBBS, MMed, FRACP, of the University of British Columbia nephrology division, wrote with colleagues. “However, the practices that are essential for a high-functioning organ donation and transplant system remain uncertain.”
Researchers conducted the retrospective observational study to assess the metrics of organ donation and transplant performance in British Columbia, Canada, from 2016 to 2019. The goal was to assess the relationship of specific policies and practices that may contribute to performance of an opt-in deceased donor kidney transplant system.
Of 1,948 people referred during the study, 754 were potential donors, according to the researchers. Among potential donors, 78% consented to donation and 82% were eligible. Of the overall eligible donors, 91% donated. Of the 438 actual kidney donors, 432 (99%) were utilized kidney donors.
Further, 1-year all-cause allograft survival was 95%, McMichael and colleagues found. They also noted that various protocols implemented at the provincial, organ procurement organization and center levels contributed to positive results. These included the presence of hospital donor coordinators, early communication between procurement organizations and transplant nephrologists, dedicated organ recovery and implant surgeons, age-based kidney allocation and hospital admission of recipients prior to kidney recovery.
“In British Columbia, consent for donation, utilization of donated kidneys and transplant survival is exceptionally high, suggesting the importance of an integrated deceased donor and kidney transplant service,” the researchers wrote. The findings may “prompt further discussion of optimal strategies to integrate deceased donor and transplant services and to advance metrics that promote system-wide improvements in other regions.”
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