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Kidney transplant (KT) is the treatment of choice for chronic kidney disease. KT from a living donor is an excellent alternative because it offers better results in terms of morbidity and mortality compared to a transplant from a deceased donor or continuing on dialysis. Although nephrectomy is low risk, over time, arterial hypertension, microalbuminuria and a drop in glomerular filtration rate may develop. The evaluation of the potential donor involves an exhaustive and standardized study with the objective of assessing renal function and anatomy, ruling out tumor, infectious pathology, and prevalent and often underdiagnosed pathologies such as diabetes and arterial hypertension.
Retrospective study in three transplant centers, two public and one private, of patients who applied as potential kidney donors, from 2017 to July 2023. Demographic data, relationship with the recipient, number of consultations made before discard, and reasons, were analyzed. The donor discard rate was calculated and compared between the different transplant centers.
Conclusions
The discard rate was 73.83%. We observed a trend of higher effective donation rate in the only private center of the 3 included. The limitation of this last analysis is the low number of centers. We found significant differences in the donor-recipient relationship, with first-degree donors being more frequent. A direct evaluation was found between the age of the donor and a greater number of consultations prior to discarding; this could be due to the greater difficulty in older patients in identifying the risk that donation entails for their health status. We conclude that health and safety of the donor are the primary pillars of living donor programs.