Most living kidney donors were siblings in Beaumont

A record 51 direct living kidney donor transplants were performed in Beaumont last year. Some 252 people came forward for initial tissue typing and 107 underwent medical and/or psychological assessment and or/surgical assessment. All potential donors deemed suitable for surgery were discussed at a multidisciplinary team meeting, according to the hospital.

Twelve of the living donor recipients received completely matched kidneys. Most (21) living kidney donors were siblings, there were five spousal transplants, five child-to-parent and 13 parent-to-child transplants. “Three friends donated their kidneys and there were two directed altruistic donors. One gentleman donated a kidney to his nephew.”

Increased collaboration with transplant centres in the UK has afforded patients with high levels of anti-HLA antibodies to be transplanted in the Shared Kidney Exchange Programme through living donors evaluated in Beaumont.  A total of 12 pairs were evaluated in 2017 and three successful transplants were performed through this programme, outlined the transplant, urology and nephrology directorate.

The use of minimally-invasive laparoscopic techniques for donor nephrectomy and the increase in expertise by the transplant urology surgeons in these techniques meant that laparoscopic donor nephrectomy was offered to all potential living donors, facilitating their postoperative recovery and reducing significantly the average length of in-hospital stay.

There were also 141 deceased donor kidney transplants conducted at the hospital in 2017.

“Approximately 2,483 patients currently enjoy the benefits of a functioning kidney transplant and a large proportion of those patients receive their aftercare follow-up here in Beaumont,” notes the hospital’s annual report. “The transplant team are extremely proud of our outcome data, as our patient and graft survival rates compare favourably with the biggest and highest-ranked transplant programmes, internationally.”