Living Kidney Donation Criteria of Baskent University.

Abstract

Kidney transplant is the best treatment for patients with end-stage renal disease. Preparation of living related kidney donors and recipients is the major step to achieve their best long-term outcomes. Here, we present the Baskent University criteria for living kidney donors and recipients. The Baskent team has performed >2000 kidney transplants from 1985 to 2022 under leadership of Prof. Mehmet Haberal, a transplantation pioneer in Turkey, who facilitated Turkish legislation on procurement, storage, engraftment, and transplant of organs and tissues in June 1979, which has been adopted in other countries with few changes. Although the main frame is similar, we have constant principles in kidney donation. Baskent University is now known as an exceptional transplant center in Turkey, the Middle East, Europe, and the world and has established its own donor criteria for both kidney and liver transplant. Volunteerism remains a core principle of living kidney donation, regardless of other criteria. At Baskent University, donor protection from social, psychological, and health problems is paramount. Loss-profit and risk of transplant are assessed for every case. Donors must be followed up and remedies sought for failed criteria. Dr. Haberal's principles are the basis of Baskent University donation criteria, and unrelated kidney transplant donors are accepted only in cases of cross-donation. Major distinctions of Baskent University's living related donor criteria are (1) absence of unrelated or nondirected donation, (2) lowest acceptable donor glomerular filtration rate of 100 mL/min, (3) rejection of hypertensive donor candidates (regardless of medication), and (4) obesity must be corrected before transplant if body mass index (measured as body weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) is >30. The Baskent University donor selection criteria provide excellent long-term outcomes of kidney donors that have been proved by our recent studies.