Gender and race/ethnicity differences in living kidney donor demographics: Preference or disparity?

In the United States, women are over-represented and Blacks are under-represented as living kidney donors. A traditional bioethics approach would state that as long as living donors believe that the benefits of participation outweigh the risks and harms (beneficence) and they give a voluntary and informed consent, then the demographics reflect a mere difference in preferences. Such an analysis, however, ignores the social, economic and cultural determinants as well as various forms of structural discrimination (e.

Living Donation by Individuals with Life-Limiting Conditions.

The traditional living donor was very healthy. However, as the supply-demand gap continues to expand, transplant programs have become more accepting of less healthy donors. This paper focuses on the other extreme, asking whether and when individuals who have life-limiting conditions (LLC) should be considered for living organ donation.

Developing an ethics framework for living donor transplantation.

Both living donor transplantation and human subjects research expose one set of individuals to clinical risks for the clinical benefits of others. In the the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavior Research (National Commission) articulated three principles to serve as the basis for a research ethics framework: respect for persons, beneficence and justice. In contrast, living donor transplantation lacks a framework.

Ethical Analysis and Policy Recommendations Regarding Domino Liver Transplantation.

Due to the widening gap between supply and demand, patients who need a liver transplant due to metabolic disease may be asked to serve as domino liver donors-to have their native liver transplanted into another candidate. We here analyze the ethical problems surrounding informed consent for the implant and explant procedures in transplant candidates who will serve as domino donors, using the case of a child with maple syrup urine disease. We discuss the need for 2 distinct consent processes separated in time to ensure that potential domino donors (or their surrogates) give a truly voluntary consent.

Impact of the kidney allocation system on young pediatric recipients.

The kidney allocation system (KAS) altered pediatric candidate prioritization. We determined KAS's impact on pediatric kidney recipients by examining delayed graft function (DGF) rates from 2010 to 2016. A propensity score-matched pediatric recipients pre- and post-KAS.

Prisoners as Living Donors: A Vulnerabilities Analysis.

Although national guidelines exist for evaluating the eligibility of potential living donors and for procuring their informed consent, no special protections or considerations exist for potential living donors who are incarcerated. Human research subject protections in the United States are codified in the Federal Regulations, 45 CFR 46, and special protections are given to prisoners. Living donor transplantation has parallels with human subject research in that both activities are performed with the primary goal of benefiting third parties.

Outcomes of Pancreatic Islet Allotransplantation Using the Edmonton Protocol at the University of Chicago.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess short-term and long-term results of the pancreatic islet transplantation using the Edmonton protocol at the University of Chicago.

Materials And Methods: Nine patients underwent pancreatic islet cell transplantation using the Edmonton Protocol; they were followed up for 10 years after initial islet transplant with up to 3 separate islet infusions. They were given induction treatment using an IL-2R antibody and their maintenance immunosuppression regimen consisted of sirolimus and tacrolimus.

Kidney Donor Profile Index Does Not Accurately Predict the Graft Survival of Pediatric Deceased Donor Kidneys.

Background: The new deceased donor kidney allocation algorithm uses a Kidney Donor Profile Index (KDPI) based on donor characteristics to predict graft survival and divides kidneys into 4 quality groups (ie, KDPI-A, -B, -C, and -D). Pediatric kidneys constitute 10% to 12% of deceased donor kidneys. We hypothesized that KDPI would not accurately predict pediatric donor graft survival and superior predictive models could be created.

Attitudes of Lay Stakeholders and Transplant Professionals About Disclosure to Living Kidney Donors in Exchanges and Chains.

Background: Current policies require very limited informational disclosure between living kidney donors and recipients regardless of the relationship type. No specific policies exist to suggest that exchange/chain donors and their recipients should be treated differently. We surveyed transplant professionals (surgeons and nephrologists) and members of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) to determine their support for disclosing to donors the health, health behavior, and social information of their exchange/chain donors and exchange/chain recipients.

Introducing Genetic Tests With Uncertain Implications in Living Donor Kidney Transplantation: ApoL1 as a Case Study.

Genetic mutations in apolipoprotein L1 (ApoL1) are associated with kidney disease. Apolipoprotein L1 mutations are common in African Americans (∼39% and 12% have 1 and 2 high-risk alleles, respectively). Carrying 2 ApoL1 risk alleles may explain much of the excess rate of kidney failure in African Americans compared to European Americans.

The 1966 Ciba Symposium on Transplantation Ethics: 50 Years Later.

In March 1966, the Ciba Foundation sponsored the first international, interdisciplinary symposium focused on ethical and legal issues in transplantation. The attendees included not only physicians and surgeons but also judges and legal scholars, a minister, and a science journalist. In this article, we will consider some of the topics in organ transplantation that were discussed by the attendees, what we have learned in the intervening half century, and the relevance of their discussions today.

Disclosing Health and Health Behavior Information between Living Donors and Their Recipients.

Background And Objectives: Living donor guidelines-both national and international-either do not address or are vague about what information can be shared between prospective living donors and transplant candidates, as well as when to make such disclosures and who should make them. This study explored the attitudes of donors and recipients regarding how much information they believe should be shared.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: Two Email invitations were sent by the National Kidney Foundation (national headquarters) to its Email listservs, inviting members to participate in an online survey to assess the attitudes of kidney transplant stakeholders regarding the disclosure of health and health risk behavior information.

Age and equity in liver transplantation: An organ allocation model.

A moral liver allocation policy must be fair. We considered a 2-step, 2-principle allocation system called "age mapping." Its first principle, equal opportunity, ensures that candidates of all ages have an equal chance of getting an organ.

Racial disparities in reaching the renal transplant waitlist: is geography as important as race?

Background: In the United States, African Americans and whites differ in access to the deceased donor renal transplant waitlist. The extent to which racial disparities in waitlisting differ between United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) regions is understudied.

Methods: The US Renal Data System (USRDS) was linked with US census data to examine time from dialysis initiation to waitlisting for whites (n = 188,410) and African Americans (n = 144,335) using Cox proportional hazards across 11 UNOS regions, adjusting for potentially confounding individual, neighborhood, and state characteristics.

Adding Another Voice to the Living Donor Kidney Transplant Discussions at the CIBA Symposium of 1966.

In March 1966, the CIBA Foundation sponsored an international interdisciplinary conference on transplantation. Attendees included surgeons, physicians from many medical disciplines, legal professionals, a minister, and a science reporter. Although the main topic of discussion was the living donor, none was present.

Decision making in liver transplantation--limited application of the liver donor risk index.

The liver donor risk index (LDRI), originally developed in 2006 by Feng et al. and since modified, is a method of evaluating liver grafts from deceased donors through the determination of the relative risk of graft failure after transplantation. Online and paper surveys about attitudes and practices regarding decision making in liver transplantation and the role of the LDRI were sent to liver transplant physicians.

Reuse of a previously transplanted kidney: does success come with a price?

Longer wait times for deceased donor kidney transplant have prompted newer initiatives to expedite the process. Reuse of a previously transplanted kidney might be appropriate in certain circumstances. However, one must also consider the unique issues that may arise after such transplants.

Age should not be considered in the allocation of deceased donor kidneys.

In this manuscript, we examine what role age can morally play in the allocation of deceased donor kidneys for transplantation into adult candidates. Our focus is on the equity concerns raised by recent proposals that give younger adults in end-stage renal disease priority to more and better deceased donor kidneys. We begin with a description of four models: the current allocation method ("baseline proposal"), the two models offered by the Kidney Transplant Committee in February 2011: a pure ±15 years age-matching model and a 20/80 proposal (http://optn.

Different standards are not double standards: all elective surgical patients are not alike.

Testa and colleagues argue that evaluation for suitability for living donor surgery is rooted in paternalism in contrast with the evaluation for most operative interventions, which is rooted in the autonomy of patients. We examine two key ethical concepts that Testa and colleagues use: paternalism and autonomy, and two related ethical concepts: moral agency and shared decision making. We show that by moving the conversation from paternalism, negative autonomy, and informed consent to moral agency, relational autonomy, and shared decision making, one better understands why the arguments given by Testa and colleagues fail.

Changing attitudes toward influenza vaccination in U.S. Kidney transplant programs over the past decade.

Background And Objectives: Influenza infection in transplant recipients is often associated with significant morbidity. Surveys were conducted in 1999 and 2009 to find out if the influenza vaccination practices in the U.S.

Minors as living solid-organ donors.

In the past half-century, solid-organ transplantation has become standard treatment for a variety of diseases in children and adults. The major limitation for all transplantation is the availability of donors, and the gap between demand and supply continues to grow despite the increase in living donors. Although rare, children do serve as living donors, and these donations raise serious ethical issues.