Transplanted kidneys from patients whose hearts have stopped beating perform just as well as those from patients who are brain-dead but still alive.
Surgeons have been concerned that kidneys from patients whose hearts have stopped may be weaker and less durable. To judge whether kidneys of deceased donors are good enough for transplantation, researchers studied a database of 9,134 kidney transplants done in the UK from 2000 to 2007. Of those, 845 were from people whose heart stopped beating after a decision to withdraw life support; the rest were from brain-dead patients.
It was found that the kidneys of both types performed equally well at one and five years after transplantation - in terms of their survival in the body - in patients who had received transplants for the first time.
The findings show that the kidneys from dead donors work as well as kidneys from alive but brain-dead donors.
Surgeons have been concerned that kidneys from patients whose hearts have stopped may be weaker and less durable. To judge whether kidneys of deceased donors are good enough for transplantation, researchers studied a database of 9,134 kidney transplants done in the UK from 2000 to 2007. Of those, 845 were from people whose heart stopped beating after a decision to withdraw life support; the rest were from brain-dead patients.
It was found that the kidneys of both types performed equally well at one and five years after transplantation - in terms of their survival in the body - in patients who had received transplants for the first time.
The findings show that the kidneys from dead donors work as well as kidneys from alive but brain-dead donors.