Various strategies have evolved to expand the donor pool due to the extreme shortage of organs. Herein we reviewed our experience with en bloc pediatric kidney transplantation since 1998.
Methods: From January 1998 to December 2004, nine adult patients underwent kidney transplantation using en bloc kidneys from donors <5 years old (range, 1 to 4). The mean age of the recipients was 45.1 years (range, 34 to 57).
Results: In recipients of en bloc pediatric transplantation, cold ischemia time ranged from 14 to 26.2 hours (mean, 21.3 hours). Mean serum creatinine at 3, 6, and 12 months after transplantation was 1.53 +/- 0.57, 1.27 +/- 0.27, and 1.15 +/- 0.26 mg/dL compared with 1.93 +/- 1.35, 1.81 +/- 1.17, and 1.73 +/- 0.85 (P = .08) in recipients of single kidneys from ideal cadaveric donors (UNOS criteria, n = 368). Patient and graft survival at 1 year were 88.8% compared with 91.2% and 85% with ideal donors (P = NS), respectively. Three cases required additional surgery. There was one death due to a cerebral vascular accident.
Conclusion: The present study confirmed the excellent results achieved with transplantation using en bloc kidneys from young donors.