title: Why do we have the kidney allocation system we have today? A history of the 2014 kidney allocation system.
abstract: "Those who do not know the past are destined to repeat it". The current system for the allocation of deceased donor kidneys that was implemented in December 2014 (termed the kidney allocation system (KAS)) was the culmination of a decade-long process. Thus, many people involved in transplantation today may not be aware of the underlying concepts and early debates that resulted in KAS. Others who were involved might not remember the details (or have chosen to forget). The goal of this manuscript is to outline the history of the process in order to shed light on why KAS has its current format.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. Electronic address: stegall.mark@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Stegall
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Transplant Surgery, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, 505 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Stock
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Transplant Surgery, University of Florida, 1600 SW Archer Rd, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Andreoni
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Northwestern University School of Medicine, 676 N St Clair St #100, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Friedewald
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Michigan School of Medicine, 1500 E Medical Center Dr # 3, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Alan B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Leichtman
mesh_terms: D033161:Government Regulation; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000266:history*; D012042:Registries; D014019:Tissue Donors; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000266:history*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States
keywords: Deceased donor kidney; Deceased donor kidney allocation; Kidney transplantation; Kidney trasplant outcomes; OPTN; Organ allocation policy; UNOS