Abstract
In 2014, a total of 2128 kidney transplants were performed in 40 centers. Of these, 620 were living kidney transplants, which corresponds to around 30 % of all kidney transplants. As the number of postmortem donors has been declining, living donation is becoming more and more important when discussing kidney transplants. In the following paper, both the obvious advantages for patients, as well as legal principles are to be discussed, so as to emphasize the importance of living kidney transplants against the background of current problems in transplantation medicine in Germany. The age of kidney transplants in humans began with a living kidney donation between identical twins by Murray et al. After introducing medicinal immunosuppression and constantly improving available substance groups, postmortem transplants became more common in the time following. Nevertheless, the importance of living donations is currently rising rapidly, as it is superior to postmortem transplantation and the number of organ donors has decreased dramatically since the allocation scandal in Germany in 2012.
Highlights
In 2014, a total of 2128 kidney transplants were performed in 40 centers
The answer to this frequently asked question is a better result after the transplantation, as living kidney recipients’ graft have a proven better function and longer graft survival rates with lowered morbidity and mortality in comparison to postmortem donations or the obligation to have dialysis (Figure 1-4) [1,2]
The cold ischemia period [4], thereby balancing the disadvantage of often less suitable HLA-compatibility in comparison to postmortem transplants [5]. This leads to the inherent question, whether a living donation is possible with every patient
Summary
The answer to this frequently asked question is a better result after the transplantation, as living kidney recipients’ graft have a proven better function and longer graft survival rates with lowered morbidity and mortality in comparison to postmortem donations or the obligation to have dialysis (Figure 1-4) [1,2]. The cold ischemia period [4], thereby balancing the disadvantage of often less suitable HLA-compatibility in comparison to postmortem transplants [5]. This leads to the inherent question, whether a living donation is possible with every patient. The exact criteria for this are defined in the transplantation law in Germany
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