International

Renal Anaemia in the news

Living donor kidney transplantation gains ground as treatment for kidney failure

• 25 February 2009
• Reuters Health

By Martha Kerr

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The rate of living donor kidney transplantation for kidney failure is increasing worldwide and is gaining importance as a treatment option, a Canadian team reports.

The team compiled data from the renal registries, transplant networks and national health ministries and agencies from 69 countries, as well as reports in the literature to estimate the rate of living donor kidney transplant rates in 2006.

Estimates on rates were made on an additional 25 countries where transplant data was limited.

Approximately 27,000 related and unrelated legal living donor kidney transplants were performed worldwide in 2006, Lucy Diane Horvat of the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, and colleagues report in a February 18 online issue of Kidney International.

That number represents 39% of all kidney transplants.

The number of living kidney donor transplants grew over the last decade, with 62% of countries reporting a 50% or greater increase in living donor kidney transplants.

Most living donor transplants were performed in the United States, which reported 6435 cases. Brazil reported 1768, Iran reported 1615, Mexico recorded 1459 and Japan performed 939 living donor kidney transplants in 2006.

Saudi Arabia had the highest living kidney donor transplant rate per million people, at 32; Jordan was second at 29, followed by Iceland with 26 transplants per million and Iran with 23. The United States had the fifth highest rate, at 21 transplants per million.

"Our study data highlight the significant impact of living kidney donation worldwide and represent the first comprehensive publication on current global rates," Dr. Horvat told Reuters Health.

"Rates of living donor kidney transplants continue to increase in many regions of the world, increasing its significance as a treatment option for kidney failure," she pointed out.

Kidney Int 2009.