Our Services

Living Donor Kidney Transplant                          

The popularity and frequency of living kidney donation has been increasing steadily nationwide over the past several years. This is a significant trend for patients who are considering a kidney transplant, as living donation presents the best opportunity for long-term transplant success.

Here are the key benefits of living kidney donation:

• Studies show that the quality of a kidney from a living donor, related or unrelated, tends to be superior to that of a kidney from a cadaveric donor.
• Waiting times are typically much shorter, whereas waiting for a cadaveric match can often take many months or several years.
• The transplant can be performed at a time that is ideal for both the donor and the recipient.

A living donor kidney transplant is a transplant in which a healthy kidney is given to a recipient by another living person. These living kidney donors can be blood relatives, non-blood relatives, friends, or anonymous (non-directed) donors.

Potential donors should call the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Transplantation Office at 617-732-6866 to initiate the comprehensive evaluation process. This thorough screening for medical and psychosocial compatibility is performed by multiple members of our team, including nurse coordinators, social workers, psychiatrists, surgeons and donor advocates. This screening process includes regular interdisciplinary meetings among transplant team members to allow for careful and thoughtful discussions surrounding a living donor’s suitability for donation.

Throughout the evaluation process, we place significant emphasis on educating living kidney donors about the benefits and risks of donation. Notably, our donor advocates are general nephrologists who only evaluate the potential donors, not the recipients – an arrangement that allows the advocates to independently focus on the best interests of the living donor candidates.

We also are continually looking to improve all aspects of the transplant process. Accordingly, although it certainly is not expected or required, we offer a number of opportunities for interested living donors to participate in on-going clinical research studies.

Cadaveric Donor Kidney Transplant

If receiving a kidney from a living donor is not preferred or viable, the patient will be placed on the national waiting list for a deceased donor kidney.

A deceased donor kidney is a kidney taken from a person who has died, who doesn’t have kidney disease, and who has consented to donation through the New England Donor Bank. A deceased person’s close relatives also can provide consent. The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is responsible for the allocation of all cadaveric kidney donations. UNOS uses a set of criteria that seeks to prioritize people on the waiting list according to who has the most urgent need for a transplant.

Although living donation is becoming more frequent every day, most transplanted kidneys still come from deceased donors. However, the wait for a deceased donor kidney tends to be much longer than that for a living donor kidney. Visit Donate Life America or New England Organ Bank to learn more about the importance of organ donation and how you can participate.

Our transplant team will be happy to arrange for you to meet with people who have donated a kidney. You can reach the transplant coordinators at 617-732-6866.