Transplantation News

A recently published study found transplant centers refuse many deceased donor kidney offers — over periods of several years in some cases — prior to candidates either receiving the transplant, being removed from the waitlist or dying.

As the structure grows internally for Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes, the nonprofit organization has work in the pipeline that includes new guidelines under development, outdated guidelines under revision and changes in process to make work more efficient and accessible. John Davis, the CEO of Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcome (KDIGO), shared the new and update guidelines and processes in the works with Nephrology News & Issues.

In response to data published by the FDA and the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists regarding shortages of a drug used to prevent rejection after organ transplantation, alternative options for the continuation of treatment have been provided.

Designing policies that encourage greater acceptance of lower quality deceased donor kidneys in the United States — similar to the French transplant system — could increase the number of transplants performed and provide survival benefits to wait-listed patients.

States that implemented Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act saw greater increases in covered preemptive kidney transplants than did non-expansion states, according to a recently published study.

A variety of patient factors — including race, age and cause of ESKD — affected the likelihood of pregnancy for kidney transplant recipients, with researchers finding that Hispanic women had greater rates of pregnancy than white women.

On August 5, the National Kidney Registry announced it will reimburse those who donated a kidney through its paired kidney exchange program for wages lost due to recovery time.

A United States–based survey indicates that adults would consider legalizing payments for kidneys — up to $100,000 — if it led to a significant increase in making more kidneys available for transplant.

Use of bariatric surgery in patients with ESKD, most notably laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, rose nine-fold within a decade while also demonstrating a low risk for complications, according to a recently published study.

While African American patients have a higher prevalence of obesity and overweight status and continue to experience disparities in access to kidney transplantation, BMI does not appear to be a barrier for transplant referral.