Live kidney donation: a 36-year-old woman hoping to donate a kidney to her mother.
Ms D, a healthy 36-year old-woman, wishes to donate a kidney to her mother, who has diabetes and end-stage renal disease. Ms D has been evaluated as a donor at another medical center and was told to lose weight and quit smoking. Evidence from cohort studies suggests that live kidney donation is a safe procedure in the short and long terms, although donor follow-up studies have often had incomplete data on limited populations. The benefits of live donation are mostly for the recipient, but kidney donors often have improved quality of life as a result of both their generous act and the improved health of the recipient. Evaluation and eligibility of live kidney donors and their short- and long-term risks are discussed.
Harvard Medical School, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 110 Francis St, Boston, MA 02215, USA. mpavlaki@bidmc.harvard.edu
Martha
M
Pavlakis
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus; D046148:Donor Selection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000601:surgery*; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000941:ethics; D019520:Living Donors; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D012307:Risk Factors