Kidney paired donation and its potential impact on transplantation

Abstract

This article updates the unique opportunities available to kidney transplant candidates through kidney paired donation (KPD). KPD enables kidney transplant candidates with willing but incompatible living donors to enroll in a registry of other incompatible pairs to find a compatible transplant. Because of the ongoing shortage of deceased donor organs, KPD represents the most promising opportunity to increase the number of kidneys available for transplantation.

Keywords: Altruistic donor; Desensitization; Incompatible; Kidney exchange; Living donor kidney transplantation; Nondirected donor; Paired donation.