In recognition of April being National Donate Life Month, this month’s expert Q-and-A features Tim Taber, MD, transplant nephrologist and medical director for IU Health’s kidney transplant program.
Last year, Dr. Taber’s program, the ninth largest program of its kind in the U.S., performed 86 percent of all kidney transplants done in Indiana. Also, through its living kidney donor program, IU Health performed more than 500 living kidney transplants within the past five years.
How serious is the need for kidneys in America?
Currently, there are more than 85,000 people nationally waiting on the list for a kidney transplant, including nearly 1,000 Hoosiers. And with only 16,000 plus kidney transplants done nationally each year, the supply of living and deceased donors does not keep pace with the new candidates added to the transplant list.
What are the health benefits of a kidney transplant?
A kidney transplant can prolong and save lives. Transplantation, on average, doubles the life expectancy of the kidney recipient, as opposed to staying on dialysis.
How long is the wait list for kidneys in Indiana? Is there a way to avoid or decrease the wait?
The wait time for kidneys is quite variable but, as a rule in Indiana, it is somewhere between two and five years. To avoid the wait, an individual should speak to family and friends about being an altruistic living kidney donor.
What are some of the most common fears or misconceptions you’ve encountered as reasons why individuals may hesitate to donate a kidney?
Some individuals are concerned that they may have kidney disease themselves. In the work-up for donation, the transplant center makes sure that the potential donor’s body is healthy enough to tolerate the procedure. Many studies have now been done on donors. The life expectancies, frequency of high blood pressure, etc. are all similar whether an individual is a donor or whether they have two kidneys.
In the event that a person has donated a kidney and develops kidney failure years later, the person (donor) is placed at the top of the local kidney transplant wait-list to receive the first kidney that matches them.
Is there a need for more minority organs (kidneys in particular)? Why is that?
African-Americans tend to be represented on the waiting list in a greater percentage than their percentage of the general population. This is because African-Americans are more likely to develop end-stage kidney disease than, for instance, white Americans. Also, African-Americans tend to donate in relatively lower numbers than white Americans.
Is it true that members of a particular ethnic minority are the best source of organs for other members of that particular minority?
To some degree, long-term viability of a kidney transplant is at least partially dependent on the degree of which the donor and recipient’s human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) match. Donors within one’s ethnic group would be more likely to be a closer match than one from another ethnic group.
How does a paired donor program work, and how can it help individuals waiting for a kidney?
About 30 percent of people who wish to donate to a specific person will have an incompatible blood type or the potential recipient will have antibodies to the donor. In that circumstance, patients can be placed in the paired donor program with other individuals in a similar circumstance. These individuals can then be paired up with other pairs and the potential donors can “swap” kidneys with another pair.
There is also the potential for a paired kidney chain. In that case, an individual wishes to give a kidney to someone who needs a transplant but does not have a specific individual in mind. They will then be matched up with a pair, the kidney transplant placed into the recipient, and that recipient’s potential donor will be matched up with another pair to whom they will give a kidney. This then will proceed forming a “chain.”
What should I do if I want to become an organ donor or a living kidney donor?
Signing one’s driver’s license serves as a “living will.” Should the individual die, this tells one’s family that he/she wishes to be considered as a tissue or organ donor, if appropriate. To become a living kidney donor, one should contact the nearest transplant center for information. In considering a transplant center, one should look at its depth of experience and the outcomes of its living kidney donor program.
For more information about IU Health Transplant, call (800) 382-4602 or (317) 944-4370 and visit iuhealth.org/transplant.
