Compensatory hypertrophy of the remaining kidney in medically complex living kidney donors over the long term.

Abstract

The criteria for living kidney donation are changing, resulting in increased numbers of individuals with risk factors being accepted as donors. The long-term function and volume changes in the remaining kidney of these medically complex donors remain largely unknown. Living kidney donors with three separate risk factors (older age, obesity, or hypertension) were reevaluated 5 years after donation. The function and volume of the remaining kidney were assessed and compared to those of standard donors. The body size correlated significantly with the kidney size and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) at the time of donation. Five years after donation, the remaining kidney size increased by a mean of 29.3%, and the GFR by 35.6%. The increase in GFR was uniform. In univariate analysis, neither the changes in the size nor the changes in the 1GFR were found to be associated with the risk factors. Medically complex living donors demonstrate similar compensatory increase in function and volume of the remaining kidney compared to standard donors, 5 years after donation.