A “timely living donor kidney transplant” refers to when a patient receives a kidney from a living donor either before beginning dialysis or within a year of beginning dialysis. Research links timely transplants to better outcomes and higher survival rates for patients. A new study indicates there has been no increase in the utilization of this transplant method since 2006. Scientists from the Mayo Clinic and the University of Michigan studied the data of over 68,000 patients who received living donor transplants between 2000 and 2012.
Results showed that while timely kidney transplants increased between 2000 and 2006, there was no increase after 2006. Data also indicated that less than two-thirds of the patients receive this type of transplant. Reasons behind the trend include a lack of education, a lack of insurance, and the transplant rates of certain dialysis facilities.
The study’s authors say that educating patients about this type of transplant option could help improve utilization and increase mortality rates. The full study, was recently published in the American Journal of Transplantation, and is available here.
