A growing number of people are seeking a better quality of life than dialysis can provide. Today, approximately 70,000 people in the United States are waiting for a kidney transplant, yet, on average, only 13,000 are performed each year. This great disparity has put pressure on the transplant community to seek new alternatives. Consequently, transplant centers are pushing new limits by seeking additional sources for organs. For example, transplanting a wider pool of organs from deceased donors has become more common. These organs may not be perfect in that they could come from an older person or one with a history of slight hypertension; however, they offer someone on dialysis an opportunity for transplantation they might not otherwise have.
This demand for kidneys has also swung the pendulum back toward living donation, the original method used for kidney transplantation when it began in the 1940s. Over the decades, living donor kidney transplants have proven superior to cadaveric transplants from deceased individuals for several reasons. Living donor transplants offer longer graft survival rates, result in fewer incidences of rejection and offer all the advantages of a planned operative procedure.
The first living kidney donors who were not genetically related to the recipient were spouses. Physicians learned that it is possible to perform successful kidney transplants between two people who are not genetically related but share a compatible blood group type. Close friends and colleagues soon also became acceptable living donors. Today, our society’s concept of living donation has expanded to include altruistic donors who offer one of their kidneys for free to a stranger who is in need of a transplant.
The ethical implications of altruistic organ donation are enormous. In this country, federal law prohibits the sale or trade of organs. The Saint Barnabas Health Care System Renal and Pancreas Transplant Centers and other transplant centers that provide altruistic donor programs shoulder a great responsibility to meet strict ethical guidelines that ensure the purity of each donation.
Altruistic donations alone can not address the needs of every person waiting for a kidney transplant, but with each new option the transplant community offers renewed hope for those who are desperately awaiting a transplant.
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