Transplant professionals' proposals for the implementation of an altruistic unbalanced paired kidney exchange program.

Background: Kidney recipients in the O blood group are at a disadvantage in kidney exchange programs (KEPs) because they can only receive an organ from O blood group donors. A way to remedy this unfair situation is through altruistic unbalanced paired kidney exchange (AUPKE) where a compatible pair (CP) consisting of an O donor and a non-O recipient is invited to participate in a KEP. There is no established AUPKE program in Canada.

How is organ transplantation depicted in internal medicine and transplantation journals.

Background: In their book Spare Parts, published in 1992, Fox and Swazey criticized various aspects of organ transplantation, including the routinization of the procedure, ignorance regarding its inherent uncertainties, and the ethos of transplant professionals. Using this work as a frame of reference, we analyzed articles on organ transplantation published in internal medicine and transplantation journals between 1995 and 2008 to see whether Fox and Swazey's critiques of organ transplantation were still relevant.

Methods: Using the PubMed database, we retrieved 1,120 articles from the top ten internal medicine journals and 4,644 articles from the two main transplantation journals (Transplantation and American Journal of Transplantation).