Q
: 1
02/03/2010 |
If I am on medication for high blood pressure, can I still donate a kidney?
This depends upon the center. Newer data has demonstrated that non-African American patients on a simple regimen of anti-hypertensive meds can be kidney donors as long as the have regular yearly followup (at a minimum) with their primary care physician to follow this issue after donation. Many centers like our own allow this for donors.
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Q
: 2
02/03/2010 |
If I donate a kidney to a friend will it shorten my life expectancy?
Data has shown that kidney donation does not affect life expectancy.
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Q
: 3
02/01/2010 |
How old do you have to be to donate a kidney?
Donors must be of consenting age (18 in most states) or have the permission of your legal guardian.
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Q
: 4
01/25/2010 |
Is it true that high blood pressure will prevent one from donating a kidney? I want to see if I am a match for my sister-in-law, who needs a transplant eventually. Will I be ruled out because I have high blood pressure?
This is dependent upon transplant center and race. Many transplant centers like our own (but not all) are allowing non-African American individuals with well controlled HTN to become kidney donors assuming no other medical barriers. The donor must assure regular and ongoing follow up first with the donor center and then with their primary care physician following surgery to monitor their BP and kidney function thereafter.
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Q
: 5
01/13/2010 |
I am curious about what is the probability of a match for a person needing a donated kidney in a population of say 100 or 200 people. I'm not talking about a likelihood they would donate if a match, just a probability that a person in the 100 or 200 person group would match the person needing a kidney.
The 'match' has perhaps received more attention than it is due. The importance is to determine whether someone has a compatible blood type as a donor (O being the universal donor blood type) and whether the donor and recipient have a negative crossmatch which determines if the recipient has any pre-formed antibodies to the donor DNA which very rarely occurs in someone that has never been transplanted before. The answer then lies in the determining the blood type of the recipient. If their blood type is AB (the universal recipient) than their chances are very good. If their blood type is O then they need a blood type O donor for compatibility. Types A and B are somewhere in between.
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Q
: 6
01/08/2010 |
I want to donate a kidney, but I am unemployed and uninsured. How realistic is the recent press that kidney donors are uninsurable following organ donation? Does your team recommend someone in my situation donate?
This is a very important question. Yes, in fact, there have been situations where donors have been denied insurance following organ donation. While I find this deplorable and incomprehensible, it is a reality. Presently, there is much effort being directed at this very issue in Congress, but it still has to be considered. In my experience, donors are often denied because of a medical problem (ie Hypertension) that, in addition to their donation, they are denied for. I would feel comfortable with someone who is otherwise without an additional diagnosis becoming a kidney donor. At the University of Maryland, we consider all of the potential risks (health and lifestyle related) for both patients and donors.
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Q
: 7
12/16/2009 |
My brother needs a transplant and I tried to be the donor. I was turned down because my creatinine level was 84 and the doctors said it needed to be 90 or above. Why is that and what does that mean?
Kidney function is estimated by looking at the measured creatinine in the blood which is a normal break down product of muscle in the blood. This can be extremely variable in individuals based upon age, sex, and body mass. We therefore utilize the glomerular filtration rate which although is still an estimated measure of kidney function is more precise as it adds these additional variables. Donors need a minimal GFR in order to assure that upon removal of a kidney, they will continue to have enough functioning glomeruli to do the amount of work that the body requires. A level of 84 is below the threshold for centers to say that it is safe for you to donate a kidney and not potentially have significant renal problems in the future.
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Q
: 8
12/15/2009 |
Which kidney is typically removed for donation?
The majority of the time the transplant center will remove the left kidney due to the vascular (artery and vein) anatomical differences of the left versus the right kidney. The left has a much longer vein making transplantation much easier on the recipient. The final decision is based upon the radiological evidence performed as a final step in the evaluation process sometimes with the plan for a right kidney removal to keep the "better" kidney in the donor for multiple reasons which may be better explained at the time of evaluation.
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Q
: 9
11/29/2009 |
I would like to be a living kidney donor. The Web site has great information, but I cannot find anything about how to donate my kidney to a stranger. What would I need to do first?
If you would like to be considered as a non-directed donor (a person who donates their kidney with no designated recipient), please contact our living donor office at 410-328-5408 and request a living donor questionnaire which will ask for some basic information regarding your personal and family health. Our team, once reviewing the data, will contact you for next steps.
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Q
: 10
11/12/2009 |
Are individuals who donate a kidney more susceptible to getting diabetes?
There is no association between donating a kidney and developing diabetes.
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Q
: 11
10/15/2009 |
On a scale of 1-10 how bad is the pain after surgery for a kidney donation?
That is purely a subjective evaluation as pain is very different from one person to another. As most centers are, or should, perform the operation laparoscopically, pain should be quite manageable.
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Q
: 12
10/08/2009 |
Is it common procedure in a kidney transplant, to remove the donors adrenal gland that sits over the donor kidney?
The adrenal gland stays in place during the donor operation and all attachments to the kidney are carefully clipped or cut.
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Q
: 13
10/06/2009 |
Can a person still donate a kidney if they have been diagnosed with Herpes?
Yes. Patients should not have an active outbreak at the time of donation.
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Q
: 14
10/04/2009 |
Can an O negative blood type be a possible donor to type O positive?
Yes. The Rh factor (+ or -) does not impact upon one's compatibility to be a donor.
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Q
: 15
08/19/2009 |
I have HPV. Will I still be able to donate a kidney?
Yes. This is not a contraindication to kidney donation
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