American Transplant Congress

Presumed consent, by which a country’s residents agree to donate their organs upon death unless they actively opt out, has the potential to improve the donor rate in the United States but raises supply-and-demand issues, speakers said.

The kidney transplant waitlist in the U.S. has shrunk over the last 2 decades, partly because racial disparities and economics prevent younger patients from gaining access, a speaker said during the virtual American Transplant Congress.

An analysis of living kidney donations occurring since 2001 showed African American patients were more likely to receive an organ from a child, while white patients were more likely to undergo unrelated donation.

Racial disparities persist in access to living donor kidney transplantation regardless of social vulnerability, with Black patients being consistently less likely to receive a living donor kidney than their white counterparts, results show.

Women who experienced complications during pregnancies that occurred prior to kidney donation were at increased risk for developing hypertension and diabetes up to 27 years after donation.

Kidney transplant recipients whose blood pressure met “intensive” targets experienced better outcomes 5 years after transplantation than those with higher blood pressure, according to findings presented at the American Transplant Congress.

Transplanting organs from donors with hepatitis C virus may increase the number of transplants performed and reduce waitlist times, but the optimal treatment strategy for recipients requires further investigation, according to a speaker.

Transplant recipients who were converted from tacrolimus to belatacept showed improvements in various domains of cognition, suggesting this treatment change may help reverse cognitive impairment.

Contending there are limitations to applying transplant guidelines provided by Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes, a speaker highlighted several factors to consider when assessing risk for GFR decline in potential donors.

Calling himself the “pandemic president,” the 47th president of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons recognized the transplant community for its work during the COVID-19 pandemic.