Recipient Kidney Transplant from a Living Donor
Maggie L. Westfal, MD, MPH; Nahel Elias, MD, FACS
Massachusetts General Hospital

End stage renal disease (ESRD) is the final stage in the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). CKD has a multitude of etiologies, presents in a variety of ways, and progresses in a patient-dependent manner. Despite the heterogeneity of CKD, once ESRD ensues, patients require Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT). RRT is one of three prongs: hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, or kidney transplant.

Of these, kidney transplantation provides the patient with the best quality of life, an improved survival, and an opportunity for cure. However, the success of kidney transplantation with improved outcomes and tolerance to the required immunosuppression has led to an extreme organ shortage despite the increase in deceased organ donors. As a result, the push for living donors has become increasingly more important.

For recipients, the best outcomes are with transplants from a living donor due to superior graft quality and elimination of the need for waiting and dialysis. This article will present such a case and discuss the important considerations a physician must make preoperatively and intraoperatively when performing kidney transplantations.