American Journal of Transplantation
American Journal of Transplantation
5 years ago

Potential Yield of Imminent Death Kidney Donation

Norman Fost, Ryan A. Denu, Eneida A. Mendonca
About 99,000 people are waiting for a kidney in the US, and many will die waiting. The concept of “imminent death” donation, a type of living donation, has been gaining attention among physicians, patients, and ethicists. We estimated the number of potential imminent death kidney donors at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics by estimating the number of annual deaths in individuals with normal kidney function. Based on a previous survey suggesting that 1/3 of patients might be willing to donate at imminent death, we estimate that between 76 and 396 people in the state of Wisconsin would be medically eligible and willing to donate each year at the time of imminent death. We extrapolated these numbers to all transplant centers in the US, estimating that between 5925 and 31,097 people might be eligible and willing to donate. Our results suggest that allowing donation at imminent death and including discussions about organ donation in end-of-life planning could substantially reduce the nation's kidney waiting list while providing many more donors the opportunity to give this gift. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1111/ajt.14524

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