Kidney transplantation - Who are ineligible?

Renal or Kidney Transplantation is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient who has end-stage renal disease. It is considered as the treatment of choice for many people with severe chronic kidney disease because quality of life and life expectancy are often better than in people who are treated with dialysis. The transplantation is typically classified as deceased-donor or living-donor transplantation, depending on the source of the donor organ. The operation places under the supervision of best urology doctors where a healthy kidney in the body  instead of the failed kidneys and the transplanted kidney takes over the work of the kidneys that failed. Thus the dialysis is no longer needed.


However, there is a shortage of organs available for donation. Many people who are candidates for kidney transplant surgery are put on a transplant waiting list and require dialysis until a kidney is available because the wait for a new kidney can be long. Many transplanted kidneys come from donors who have died and some come from a living family member

During a transplant, the urologist or surgeon places the new kidney in lower abdomen of the patient and connects the artery and vein of the new kidney to the existing artery and vein. Often, the new kidney will start working as soon as the blood starts flowing through it. But in some case, it also takes a few weeks to start working. Kidney can be transplanted from a relative or an unrelated person or from a person who has died. But the organs from living donors function better and for longer periods of time than those from the deceased donors.

Also, all people with kidney failure cannot be the candidates for a kidney transplant surgery. Older age and severe heart or vascular disease may mean that it is safer to be treated with dialysis rather than undergo kidney transplantation.

Other conditions that might prevent a person from being eligible for kidney transplantation include:

●  Active or recently treated cancer

●  A chronic illness that could lead to death within a few years

●  Dementia

●  Poorly controlled mental illness

●  Severe obesity (a body mass index greater than 40

●  Inability to remember to take medications

●  Current drug or alcohol abuse

●  History of poor compliance with medications or dialysis treatments

●  Limited or no health insurance


Some people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection may be eligible for kidney transplantation if their disease is well controlled. People with other medical conditions are evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine if kidney transplantation is an option.Also note that if you have a transplant, you must take drugs for the rest of your life, to keep your body from rejecting the new kidney.


Note: Further clarification of doubts can be cleared from the website of Dr. Krishna Mohan, Urology specialist in Calicut and he's also one among the top urologist in calicut, Kerala.

Comments