Objective: To better understand the pre-operation evaluation of donor kidneys from extended criteria donation after cardiac death and to improve the management during and after renal transplantation.
Methods: Both of the donor kidneys were from the donor who underwent liver transplantation 5 years ago in the Center of Organ Transplantation of Central South University. The donor was admitted because of liver function deterioration which led to hepatic coma, brain death, hepatorenal syndrome and cardiac death sequentially. Deceased donor score (DDS) and "zero point" kidney biopsy were applied to evaluate the donor kidney. After thorough examination of the donor and the renal function, renal transplantation was performed on 2 recipients.
Results: The recipients were followed up by 6 months, both of whom developed pulmonary infection and relieved after treatments. The kidney grafts functioned well and no surgical complication and no acute rejection occurred during the follow-up.
Conclusion: Proper evaluation of the donor organs ensures the safety of renal transplantation with kidneys from cardiac death donors who underwent liver transplantation, which is an important way to increase the number of organs for transplantation, yet the long-term effects need further observation.