- The list of patients with renal disease who need a transplant is growing by the day.
- Majority of the transplants come from deceased donation after brain death in USA and from few from healthy living donors.
- Living donors are promised priority access to organ transplant when they should need one at a later date.
- Research shows that some living donors are still being made to wait indefinitely for months without getting the promised priority access to organ transplant.
- The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) has developed a system to reduce these delays in the future.
- Filtration of waste products and toxins in the blood
- Excretion of fluid and maintaining the correct fluid balance
- Control of blood pressure
- Production of erythropoietin, a substance that prevents anemia
- Maintenance of the acid base and electrolyte balance of the body.
- 210 prior living donors were added to the OPTN renal transplant waiting list between January 1, 2010 and July 31, 2015.
- Data revealed that until September 2015, 167 of the donors got deceased donor transplants, 6 obtained living donor transplants, 2 died, 5 were too sick to undergo the transplant, and 29 were still waiting for their turn.
- The average waiting time to get a cadaver donor transplant for prior living donors was 98 days.
- Only 40.7% of the living donors were on the list before they started dialysis; 68.3% were in inactive status, meaning they were not eligible for organs for <90 days, 17.6% for 90-365 days, 8.6% for 1-2 years, and 5.4% for more than 2 years.
- The average waiting time for prior living donors who were in active status before obtaining priority was 2 days; 67.4% received priority within 7 days after activation, while 15.4% waited between 8-30 days, 8.1% for 1-3 months, 4.1% for 3-12 months, and 5.0% waited for more than a year in active status to get priority.
- After receiving priority, most patients were transplanted quickly, and the median time in active status with priority before deceased donor transplant was 23 days.
- The Waiting List - (http://www.kidneylink.org/TheWaitingList.aspx)
- UNOS Transplant Waitlist Status - We need your input by February 28, 2014! - (https://www.kidney.org/transplantation/transaction/TC/winter14/UNOS_Committee)
- The State of U.S. Living Kidney Donors - (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2974389/)
- Why You May Need a Kidney Transplant - (http://www.emoryhealthcare.org/transplant-kidney/learn-about/why-needed.html)
Citations
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APA
Dr. Lakshmi Venkataraman. (2016, September 02). Are Living Donors Really Getting Their Due?. Medindia. Retrieved on Aug 13, 2022 from https://www.medindia.net/news/healthinfocus/are-living-donors-really-getting-their-due-163160-1.htm.
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MLA
Dr. Lakshmi Venkataraman. "Are Living Donors Really Getting Their Due?". Medindia. Aug 13, 2022. <https://www.medindia.net/news/healthinfocus/are-living-donors-really-getting-their-due-163160-1.htm>.
Chicago
Dr. Lakshmi Venkataraman. "Are Living Donors Really Getting Their Due?". Medindia. https://www.medindia.net/news/healthinfocus/are-living-donors-really-getting-their-due-163160-1.htm. (accessed Aug 13, 2022).
Harvard
Dr. Lakshmi Venkataraman. 2021. Are Living Donors Really Getting Their Due?. Medindia, viewed Aug 13, 2022, https://www.medindia.net/news/healthinfocus/are-living-donors-really-getting-their-due-163160-1.htm.