title: Unrelated renal transplantation: an ethical enigma.
abstract: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a condition better discussed than suffered. People suffering from ESRD are at a disadvantage not only financially, but also emotionally and in terms of the quality of their lives. The majority of their productive time is spent in hospital, on dialysis machines, or in the search for a suitable kidney donor, so that they may be able to improve upon the quality of their remaining lifespan. Only a "lucky few" are able to find a suitable matching donor, be it living (related) or a cadaver, whilst the others are left to fend for themselves. As the supply fails to cope with the demand, people go to the extent of exploring the pool of "unrelated donors". Though not legalised yet, this is one domain yet to be explored in its entirety, both on humanitarian as well as ethical grounds. Our current work hopes to highlight this scenario and also provides a few options that may well become "ethically acceptable" in the not-so-far future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology; Registrar, Apollo Hospital, Plot No. 251, Old Sainik School Road, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha 750 015, India,. drgaurav1981@rediffmail.com.
authors.forename: Gaurav
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aggarwal
authors.affiliation: Senior Consultant, Apollo Hospital, Plot No. 251, Old Sainik School Road, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha 750 015, India,. drsamiran@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Samiran
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adhikary
mesh_terms: D002102:Cadaver; D005190:Family; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000601:surgery*; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D019520:Living Donors; D011788:Quality of Life; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence