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Kidney transplants are the second most common transplant operation in the United States (over 14,000 cases per year - cornea transplants are first). Compared to heart, lung, or liver transplants, it is an easier and less complicated operation.

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is the private organization that runs the US transplant system under a contract with the federal government.

Despite continuing advances in medicine and technology, the demand for kidneys drastically outstrips the number of donors. In October 2002, there were 53,000 persons on waiting lists for kidney transplants in the US.

There are two types of kidney transplantation: cadaveric and living donor. Cadaver organs are distributed to those on a waiting list based on criteria set forth by UNOS. Live donor transplantation has become increasingly common, due in large part to the success of the procedure and the shortage of cadaveric organs. Living donation allows the immediate transplantation of kidneys into recipients so operations can be scheduled electively once a suitable living donor has been identified. This avoids the long waiting times encountered with cadaveric donation. A new procedure, the laparoscopic nephrectomy, has greatly reduced the trauma and recovery period for a living donor.

Kidney transplant recipients usually must take immunosuppressants, or anti-rejection drugs, for the rest of their lives. Medicare coverage for these medications is currently limited to three years, but federal legislation has been introduced to extend coverage. Immunosuppressant medications run on average between $1,000 - $1,200 monthly.

Warning: Changes should never be made in a patient's treatment or care based solely on the information found here.  All patients have unique healthcare concerns and considerations and these must all be taken into account before any changes can be safely made.  All medical and therapeutic decisions must come from a qualified health care provider.  Read RenalWEB's Legal Disclaimer before proceeding.

  NEWS and LATEST ARTICLES

China a Rising Star in Regenerative Medicine Despite World Skepticism of Stem Cell Therapies - Press release from the Program on Life Sciences, Ethics and Policy,McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health. - January 8, 2010
Ex-Chief of Los Angeles Transplant Program Indicted in Cover-up of Patient Switch - Article from CNN. - January 7, 2010
Anemia, Microcytosis and Sirolimus— Is Iron the Missing Link? - Advance Access abstract from NDT. - January 6, 2010
Nitric Oxide-Releasing Wrap for Donor Organs and Cloth for Diabetics' Therapeutic Socks - Press release from the American Chemical Society. - January 6, 2010
Many Expect Organ Cloning Could Be Routine by 2020 - Article from Reuters. - January 5, 2010
Stem Cells Likely to Help Genetic Disorders First - Article from HealthDay. - January 5, 2010
Advantages of Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy Confirmed in Randomized Trial - (Registration required, but free.) Reuters Health article via Medscape Nephrology. - December 30, 2009
Hypertension after Kidney Transplantation: Still a SECRET? - Free, full-text, Advance Access editorial commentary from NDT. - December 29, 2009
Program in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska Touts Kidney Transplants over Dialysis - AP article via Chicago Tribune. Dec. 24th article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. - December 29, 2009
Kidney Transplants Reduce Heart Failure Risk, but to a Lesser Extent in Obese Patients - (Registration required, but free.) Article from Reuters Health via Medscape Nephrology. - December 28, 2009
Egypt Debates Transplant Law, Hopes To Cut Organ Trade - Article from Reuters. - December 28, 2009
Benefit of Kidney Transplantation Beyond 70 Years of Age - Free, full-text Advance Access article from NDT. - December 27, 2009
Officials Re-examining Organ Transplant Rules after Brain Infections - Article from The New York Times. - December 27, 2009
A Downside of Organ Donation - Article and related health blog from The Wall Street Journal. - December 23, 2009
White Paper Details Gaps in Biovigilance in U.S. for Patient Safety and Donor Health - Summary of 4-page statement (pdf) and 103-page report (pdf) from the Public Health Service Biovigilance Task Group under HHS. Also see the U. S. Biovigilance Network web site.
Kidney Waitlists Often Miss Target - Article from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. - December 20, 2009
"Data for the nation's two largest dialysis providers -- Fresenius Medical Care and DaVita -- show a wide disparity among their thousands of clinics in the percentage of patients listed for transplants and in reporting whether doctors inform patients about transplantation."
Spain Leads World in Organ Donations - Article from AFP. - December 19, 2009
Rare Organism Passed On To Transplant Recipients - Article from Associated Press. - December 19, 2009
Senate's Health Reform Manager Amendment: No Immunosuppressant Drug Coverage, GAO to Study Including Oral Drugs in PPS - Report by Bill Peckham from Dialysis from the Sharp End of the Needle. - December 19, 2009
Transplant guide highlights daily infection risks from factors like pets and food - Press release from Wiley-Blackwell. - December 18, 2009
Fourteen-year Survival of a Renal Graft Reused 2 Years After Initial Transplantation: a Case Report - Early View abstract from Transplant International. - December 17, 2009
American Society of Transplantation Concerned That Kidney Transplant Patients May Suffer Politics As Usual in Capitol Hill Health Care Reform Debate - Press release. News item from Kaiser Health News. - December 15, 2009
Latest transplant news from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
Kidney Transplant news stories from Yahoo! News - Continually Updated!
 
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  ANTI-REJECTION DRUG INFORMATION

Cyclosporine ("Sandimmune" or "Neoral") - Drug Info from The Drug Monitor. National Library of Medicine PubMED search results for cyclosporine and kidney transplant Continually Updated!
Tacrolimus ("Prograf" or FK506) - Drug Info from The Drug Monitor. National Library of Medicine PubMED search results for tacrolimus and kidney transplant Continually Updated!
Sirolimus ("Rapamune®") - Drug Info from The Drug Monitor. National Library of Medicine PubMED search results for sirolimus and kidney transplant Continually Updated!
Azathioprine ("Imuran") - Drug Info from The Drug Monitor. National Library of Medicine PubMED search results for azathioprine and kidney transplant Continually Updated!
Daclizumab ("Zenapax®") - Drug Info from The Drug Monitor. National Library of Medicine PubMED search results for daclizumab and kidney transplant Continually Updated!
Corticosteroids ("Prednisone" and many others) - Drug Info from The MedMaster™ Patient Drug Information database. National Library of Medicine PubMED search results for corticosteroids and kidney transplant Continually Updated! Search results for prednisone Continually Updated!
Mycophenolate ("CellCept") - Drug Info from The Drug Monitor. National Library of Medicine PubMED search results for mycophenolate and kidney transplant Continually Updated!
 

  WEB RESOURCES

Latest Scientific Journal Articles on Kidney Transplantation - list compiled by RenalWEB's Journal Watch
Decision: Donation - a school program that gives the gift of life
Guidelines for Preventing Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Through Transplantation of Human Tissue and Organs from the CDC - May 20, 1994

The Jewish Kidney & Transplant Support Center - Advice and support for kidney transplant and dialysis patients

Kidney/Pancreas Transplant Program from the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Kidney Transplant  web sites from Yahoo!
Latest Issue of Kidney Transplant Today an electronic newsletter produced and distributed by the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP)

Kidtrans - list for parents of children who have had a transplant or are in need of one

Medical Complications of Kidney Transplantation (Hardcover) by Claudio Ponticelli (Editor) - January 2008
National Donor Memorial web site
National Service Framework for Renal Services: Part One - Dialysis and transplantation - Department of Health web site
National Transplant Assistance Fund (NTAF) web site
The Gift that Heals: Stories of hope, renewal and transformation through organ and tissue donation - book by Reg Green
Organ and Tissue Donors and Transplant Recipients from the NKF web site. Also, transAction! - A council where transplant recipients of all organs come together.
Pediatric Transplantation web site
Pregnancy After Transplant from the Transplant Living web site
Presumed Consent Foundation web site
Q&A on Living Donation from the NKF web site
Questions About Kidney Transplantation from TransWeb.org web site

Roche Transplantation web site

The Renal Transplant Option from the ESRD Network 5 web site
Top 10 Myths About Donation & Transplantation from TransWeb.org web site
Transplantation: The Other Option power point presentation from the American Nephrology Nurses’ Association
TransplantLiving - the patient's connection to the transplant community from UNOS
2006 Annual Report - The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) web site. The site provides the most current U.S. donation and transplantation data available on the Internet.
2007 Annual Report from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) weekly updated Waiting Lists for transplants.
Update: Investigations of West Nile Virus Infections in Recipients of Organ Transplantation and Blood Transfusion - from MMWR - September 20, 2002
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Division of Transplantation (DOT) web site
USTransplant.org web site - The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) web site. Center and OPO Specific Reports
Who is Eligible for Medicare? from the The Official U.S. Government Site for Medicare Information
 
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  ESSENTIALS AND CLASSICS

Transplant Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice - a book by ANA and the International Transplant Nurses Association
Tramplantation Fact Sheet (pdf format requires Adobe Acrobat reader.) from the American Nephrology Nurses’ Association
Chronic Kidney Disease: What Every Nurse Should Know - Module 6: Chronic Kidney Disease - The Post Transplant Patient - from the American Nephrology Nurses Association web site
European Best Practice Guideline for Transplantation Part 1 and European Best Practice Guideline for Transplantation Part 2 - guidelines endorsed by the European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association (ERA-EDTA)
Treatment Methods for Kidney Failure: Kidney Transplantation from the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
End-Stage Renal Disease: Choosing a Treatment That's Right for You: Transplantation from the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC)
Here is an informative website for those considering kidney transplantation, "A Patient's Guide to Kidney Transplant Surgery" from the University of Southern California Kidney Transplant Program.
HLA Matching from the University of Michigan Medical Center.
 
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  KDIGO™ -  Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes
Clinical Practice Guidelines: Table of Contents
 

  KDIGO Clinical Practice Guideline for the Care of the Kidney Transplant Recipients - (pdf)
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  PUBMED SEARCHES

kidney transplant Continually Updated!
organ donor and kidney Continually Updated!
renal transplant and HLA matching Continually Updated!
kidney transplant and complications Continually Updated!
kidney transplant and rejection Continually Updated!
 
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  LAPAROSCOPIC NEPHRECTOMY

Live Doner Laparoscopic Nephrectomy For Kidney Transplantation - article from the University of Southern California Kidney Transplant Program.
View a 10-minute movie of an actual laparoscopic left donor nephrectomy from the University of Southern California Kidney Transplant Program. (need Real Video - download player )

Here is a listing of articles on the laparoscopic nephrectomy procedure from the latest scientific journals (PubMed search).

 
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  NON-DIRECTED DONATION AND "SWAPS"

 
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  STATISTICS

U.S. Facts About Kidney Transplantation from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) web site
2008 OPTN/SRTR Annual Report from the USTransplant.org web site
Center and OPO Specific Reports from the USTransplant.org web site
Organ Donation and Transplantation Trends in the United States - from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients web site
 
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  UPCOMING EVENTS

Listing of North American Transplant Coordinators Organization (NATCO) Meetings
 
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  TRANSPLANT CENTERS

US Transplant Centers - from the OPTN web site
Transplant centers with web sites (page down to Transplant Centers) from the National Foundation for Transplants web site
Transplant Statistics: Center-Specific Reports from the USTranplant.org web site
 
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  XENOTRANSPLANTATION, BIOTECH, AND STEM CELL RESEARCH

FDA Guidance for Industry on Xenotransplantation from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration
These two web sites provide opposing viewpoints on xenotransplantation. Here is the the International Xenotransplantation Association. Here is the web site of the Campaign for Responsible Transplantation, a group that opposes xenotransplantation.
U.S. Public Health Service Guideline on Infectious Disease Issues in Xenotransplantation from the Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) - August 24, 2001
Stem Cells: A Primer - from the National Institutes of Health, September 2002
Stem Cell Research - Full coverage page from Yahoo
Bioartificial kidney under development at the University of Michigan by Dr. David Humes. Here is the news summary from RenalWEB
Beyond Transplants: Growing Organs in the Lab from Popular Mechanics
 
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  DISCUSSION FORUM

General Nursing Discussion Forum - RenalWEB Discussion Forum
 
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  INPUT / SUGGESTIONS

E-mail to RenalWEB on the Transplantation Topic
 
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