Incompatible kidney for kidney disease patients on the waiting list.

 Emobileclinic Researcher’s corner

Rather than waiting to die due to unavalability of  compatible kidney donor for affected kidney disease people,  a recent study says incompatible kidney can be used. The chances of getting a compatible donor is so slim and sometimes can be nearly  impossible and thus the lead researcher, Dr. Dorry Segev, an associate professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore said his study brings hope to those on the waiting list noting that recipients who received  incompatible kidney are still alive 8 years after the surgery. 

The risk of rejection from using incompatible donor organ is high but such risk is controlled with desensitization therapy which reduces immune system attacks on the organ. He noted that this approach could be beneficial to patients with large immune  antibodies, patients with previous kidney transplant, women whose kidneys are affected due to pregnancy complications, and patients who had had series of blood transfusions while receiving dialysis. 

Using an incompatible donor organ started 15 year ago by John Hopkins and surgeons who are reluctant about the approach have started embracing it with the long time frame of positive proof. Even though there is risk of infection due to strong suppressant drugs but the results afterwards justify the risk. 

Dr. Doro in his recent study justify the use of incompatible donor with his results of 8 years study,  showing excellent rate of survival among the recipient of incompatible kidney. The study observed about 6000 kidney disease patients, 1000 received incompatible donor, while about 5000 neither received compatible donor organ nor dialysis. The study results show that 76% of the incompatible donor recipient are still alive while 44% of those on dialysis patients are still alive and 63% of those who received compatible donor are still alive. 

Reacting to this development,Dr. Micheal fletcher, a director in the division of kidney, urologic and hematology disease attologic diseases at U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney said  “this is potentially a paradigm shift” . This is situation of a wrong becoming right.

 With long list of patients waiting for compatible kidney donor transplant, this is a good and great news and families can start saving their loved ones. 

SOURCE

Michael Flessner, etal. M.D., program director, division of kidney, urologic and hematologic diseases, U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

New England Journal of Medicine, March 10,2016