Outcomes of Living, Unrelated Donor Kidney Transplants in Children Examined

THURSDAY, Sept. 1, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Graft survival is comparable for pediatric recipients of living unrelated donor (LURD) and living related donor (LRD) kidneys, according to a study published online July 23 in Pediatric Transplantation.

Lavjay Butani, M.D., and Daniel Tancredi, Ph.D., from the University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, conducted an analysis of the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network database for children who received a first kidney-only transplant between Jan. 1, 2000, and Sept. 30, 2021. Time to graft failure or death was examined as the primary outcome measure.

Of 12,089 subjects, 2.7, 36, and 61 percent received kidneys from LURDs, LRDs, and deceased donors (DD), respectively. The rate of one-year graft failure was 3.56 percent. LURD recipients had comparable graft survival to LRD recipients (graft failure adjusted hazard ratio, 1.15, 95 percent confidence interval, 0.87 to 1.51; P = 0.31), while DD recipients had lower graft survival (graft failure hazard ratio, 1.26, 95 percent confidence interval, 1.10 to 1.43; P < 0.001). DD kidney recipients had comparable graft survival using LURD as the reference group (hazard ratio for graft failure, 1.09, 95 percent confidence interval, 0.83 to 1.43; P = 0.53).

"Our analysis suggests that living unrelated donor organ transplants are not inferior to deceased donor organs," Tancredi said in a statement. "This is especially important for children who are the most vulnerable of all and have much to benefit from receiving the best possible available donor organ."

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