What Happens When Kidneys Stop Working
The kidneys remove waste products from our blood. They also control the levels of salt and fluid in our bodies. Sometimes an illness or a disease, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, can cause the kidneys to fail. When this happens, it is called end-stage kidney disease, because the kidneys are nearing the end of their ability to work correctly.
When the kidneys stop working, the patient must have some type of treatment to remove the waste products from the blood. One option is a kidney transplant. The kidney can come from a healthy living person or from someone who has recently died . Dialysis is another option. Dialysis uses a machine to remove waste products from the blood. For those who are eligible, transplant from a living donor is the best option.
How does living kidney donation work?
A person who donates a kidney to someone in need is called a living donor, and a person who needs a kidney is called a transplant candidate.
Any adult who is in good health can be assessed to become a living donor. Every potential donor must have a complete medical checkup to make sure they are healthy enough to donate a kidney to a person in need.
Types of living donation
Directed donation
This type of donation occurs when a potential donor knows a transplant candidate and is a match to that person. Directed donors can be biologically related to the transplant candidate or unrelated .
Non-directed anonymous donation
What are the advantages of living kidney donation?
Special Note: Paternity Test
It is important for you to understand that tissue typing is similar to what is sometimes called paternity testing. That is, the results may help to confirm the biological parents of the child.
We ask that you consider this carefully and before agreeing to the test, we would want you, as a family, to decide who should be told if the results are unexpected. That is, if the tests were to show that one or other of you is not the blood parent, would both of you, one of you or neither of you want to be told?
If you have any questions or concerns about this, you must discuss them either with the doctor or nurse or your family doctor before undergoing the blood test. We ask that you consider this carefully.
How Are We Notified When A Kidney Is Available
Each transplant team has their own specific guidelines for waiting on the transplant list and being notified when a donor organ is available. In most cases, you will receive a phone call that an organ is available. You will be told to come to the hospital immediately so your child can be prepared for the transplant.
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Kids And Kidney Transplants
If your child has kidney disease, you may be considering a transplant for treatment. We help you understand the process.
If your child has kidney disease, you may be considering a transplant for treatment.
Treatment options for children with kidney disease vary based on the type of illness, as well as any specific medical conditions that may need to be considered.
To know whats best for your child, and whether a kidney transplant is a suitable option, speak with your doctor.
What Is A Live Donor Kidney Transplant
Any adult can donate a kidney to a child in need if their blood type matches the intended recipient and if they pass the donor evaluation. This can be a parent or other family member , a friend, or even a stranger . A donated kidney does not necessarily require identical blood types between donor and recipient, but certain compatibility criteria needs to be fulfilled to be approved as a match.Live donor kidney transplants have advantages over deceased donors, including a shorter wait time for an organ, easier and more convenient planning and scheduling of the transplant surgery, a potential for a better genetic match than a deceased donor, and better long-term outcomes. Kidneys from living donors tend to work better and longer than kidneys from deceased donors, but a kidney transplant from a deceased donor is still a better option than long-term dialysis. A living kidney donation is not entirely risk-free and comes with some hardships for the donor, such as time off work. Living kidney donation also means that the donor, purely out of the goodness of their heart, undergoes a surgical procedure that they dont need for their own physical well-being. Get more information about .
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What Causes The Need For Pediatric Transplantation
Many of the conditions that prompt the need for transplant can occur as early as infancy including heart issues like restrictive cardiomyopathy or liver diseases like biliary atresia. Other issues surrounding injuries or diseases may also occur during childhood.
A number of diagnoses and conditions may necessitate a pediatric transplant. Some conditions can be diagnosed by a pediatrician.
Kidney conditions, as determined by a pediatric nephrologist, can include acute kidney failure and chronic kidney disease.
Liver conditions, determined often by pediatric hepatologists, can include metabolic diseases such as Wilsons disease and Types 14 of Glycogen storage disease, acute and and chronic hepatitis, intrahepatic cholestasis, obstructive biliary tract liver disease, traumatic and post-surgical biliary tract diseases, cirrhosis, Caroli disease, congenital hepatic fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, and Budd-Chiari. Biliary atresia is the most common liver disease to require a liver transplant in children.
Heart conditions, diagnosed by pediatric cardiologists, can include congenital heart disease and cardiomyopathy.
Lung conditions, diagnosed by pediatric pulmonologists, may includecystic fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension.
Children suffering from advanced intestinal disease often benefit from intestinal transplants or short bowel transplants to avoid or treat liver problems or to assist with total parenteral nutrition when a childs veins are too damaged for IVs.
Medical Financial Or Personal Reasons May Mean Parents Are Not Able To Donate A Kidney To Their Children
While parents and other close family members are generally preferred over deceased donors, family members are assessed first as potential donors. Unfortunately, there are many reasons why they arent always suitable or compatible matches.
1. The first reason is that they may not be a medically compatible match meaning that they have an incompatible blood group, that the recipient has antibodies that would attack the donor organ, or that the donor candidate has an underlying health condition that prohibits them from donating an organ.
2. The second reason is financial. The surgery performed to remove a live donor kidney is not trivial and means that the donor may have to recover at home for a few weeks after surgery. This can impose a financial burden on some families if the potential donor is the sole income earner.
3. A third reason parents may not donate a kidney to their child is personal. The decision to donate is not easy to make. Each person has a unique set of circumstances that will affect his or her decision when approached with this question.
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This Story Is Part Of A Group Of Stories Called
Finding the best ways to do good.
Two summers ago, my father asked if I would give him one of my kidneys.
He was 70 at the time, suffering from kidney disease. I was 39 with a wife and two young kids, and I was blindsided by his request. I just said, Ill think about it. Give me the information.
I did think about it. A year later, my father and I found ourselves at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey, where doctors would remove one of my kidneys and transplant it into him. It was one of the most difficult decisions Ive ever made and in the end, while it was certainly gratifying, what truly convinced me to do it was that all the facts and data told me that it was simply the sensible, practical, right thing to do.
You may have read Dylan Matthewss account on this very site of his kidney donation to a total stranger. It was a remarkably generous act, and I admire him deeply for it.
But that experience is fairly uncommon. The fact is that 95 percent of live donors give their kidneys to someone they know. Out of the more than 6,000 live donor transplants made last year in the United States, some 300 were donated to strangers. Most donors never thought this is something we would do until faced with the prospects of a loved one going into kidney failure.
Will You Be Operated On In The Same Hospital
This depends upon where your surgery takes place. Some hospitals look after both adults and children whilst others are exclusively for children.
Wherever you are, there will be a team of people caring for each of you.
The donor assessment and operation will always be performed in an adult transplant centre. This will be nearby if you and your child are cared for in separate hospitals.
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Is It Possible To Decrease The Chances Of My Child Developing Antibodies To My Mismatched Numbers If They Were To Have A Deceased Donor Kidney First
What we can do is to put your child on-call for a new kidney, but only accept a kidney with your mismatched numbers excluded.
For example:
If you are: 1 2 3 4 5 6 and your child is: 1 2 3 7 8 9 then we can ask UK Transplant to put your child on-call, but not offer any kidney that has numbers 4,5 or 6.
Your child should not then make antibodies to any of your mismatched numbers but we can never guarantee this.
Blood may need to be given at the time of the transplant, and as blood cells also carry these numbers and the blood may have come from several different donors, your child may make antibodies to them. Some antibodies also react with more than one HLA number.
What Is Living Donation
Living donation takes place when a living person donates an organ for transplantation to another person. The living donor can be a family member, such as a parent, child, brother or sister .
Living donation can also come from someone who is emotionally related to the recipient, such as a good friend, spouse or an in-law . Thanks to improved medications, a genetic link between the donor and recipient is no longer required to ensure a successful transplant.
In some cases, living donation may even be from a stranger, which is called anonymous or non-directed donation.
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But Yes Kidney Donation Is A Deeply Rewarding Experience
Of course, the experience was deeply rewarding. When I see my father playing with my kids, it makes me so happy to know that he can do that because of what I chose to do. And when I talk to my parents about the next trip they are planning in retirement, it is wonderful to know that I played a role in making it happen. Best of all, when my kids get older and truly understand what I chose to do, they will view it as a normal and expected thing that you do for others.
I am proud of the decision I made. I feel great about it. The feeling of fulfillment that I have about the experience was not at all the reason I did it. But it is a lovely side benefit.
Ilan Goldenberg is the director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. In July 2018, he became a live kidney donor. If you are considering kidney donation, find out more from the Saint Barnabas Medical Center Living Donor Institute, the American Kidney Fund, or the National Kidney Foundation.
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Organ Size & Its Role In Organ Donation
First, its important to understand the criteria we use to match organs. These things typically include blood type, time on the transplant list, location of the donor and recipient, whether the immune systems match and whether the recipient is an adult or child.
When we receive an organ, we review medical and genetic information, including blood and tissue type and organ size. We then look at a list of possible transplant candidates that may be compatible with the donor and notify the transplant center closest to these potential recipients than an organ is available. The transplant center can choose to accept or refuse an organ based on medical criteria.
One of the most challenging parts of matching organs is whether the donor and recipient is an adult or child. Children often respond better to organs from another child, but we get fewer of these donations. Most organ donations come from adults, and the size of their organs are usually much too large to transplant into a child.
For adults, several factors affect organ size, including gender. Most men tend to have larger organs than women. They often have larger hearts and lungs, so this is another important consideration during the matching process.
Organ matching is done with defined medical criteria, and size often plays a critical role in this process. We have to consider both the donor and recipient to ensure the donation gives the recipient the best long-term quality of life.
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What Are The Different Types Of Kidney Transplants
There are two kinds of kidney transplants depending on who donates the new kidney.
A living-donor transplant is when someone gets a kidney from a person who is still alive and well. Its usually from a relative or close friend, but sometimes strangers donate.
A is when people donate their kidneys for transplant after they die. This requires people who need kidneys to put their names on a waiting list until a donor is found.
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How Is A Pediatric Kidney Transplant Performed
Kidney transplant surgery lasts two to three hours and is performed under general anesthesia. Transplant surgeons make an incision in the lower abdomen, where they connect the new kidney by attaching it to blood vessels and the bladder. The nonworking kidneys are usually left in place, unless they are causing problems such as high blood pressure or protein leak.
The incision typically heals quickly, and the new kidney begins working within a few hours. In some cases, a drain may be used for a few days to collect fluid and watch for leaks. If there are no complications, most patients go home from the hospital within a week and can resume a normal diet within a few days.
The transplant team will prescribe medications to help manage pain after surgery and to prevent infection and facilitate the bodys acceptance of its new organ.
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Where Can I Find Statistics Related To Living Donation
You can find some statistics on the United Network for Organ Sharing web site. UNOS compiles statistics on every transplant center in the United States. To view all UNOS data, . You can find statistics on the number of non-living and living donor transplants performed at that particular center, respectively, and the graft survival rates for the transplant recipient.
The best source of information on expected donor outcomes is from your transplant team. Talk with them about general risks including long and short term, as well as any specific concerns you have regarding your personal health status.
for detailed statistics on short-term complications from living donation .
Would You Donate A Kidney To An Eighty Year Old Parent
< p> I dont even know if kidneys can be donated to 80 year oldsif they can, would you?< /p>
< p> My parents wouldnt have let me. If my parent was asking, I dont know what Id do.< /p>
< p> I dont think so. Id have a hard time donating my body parts in general, and I dont think a parent who is well into their golden years would make a lot of sense. I think that dialysis would make a lot more sense for that person, and would likely keep them alive for as long as a kidney transplant would.< /p>
< p> As cnp said, no child would want to be put in that kind of spot.< /p>
< p> I dont think so. Now if I were 80 donating to my child, yes. I cant imagine anyone would do an organ transplant on an 80 yo.< /p>
< p> Any question involving the health of a loved one is a hard one. One thought is to consider placing yourself on the other side. If you are an 80 year old parent, would you want your 50-60 year old child to donate to you. Right now, my instinct is to say no. Of course the question then becomes, what about 70, or 60, or 50 < /p>
< p> I can see myself doing anything for the kids without much thought, donating to W, S, or cousins who I am truly close to, but am not sure for anyone beyond. Of course something like bone marrow needs less thought would be happy to do it even for a stranger.< /p>
< p> Also, my own mother turned 80 this year, she texts, facebooks, does her own taxes and gets up any hill on foot faster than I can. So, I guess it depends on the person.< /p>
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How Do I Prepare My Family For A Transplant
Before the operation, families meet with a who explains the sleep-like state of anesthesia. You are able to ask questions, and ease any concerns that you have about pain management during and after surgery. Also, Childrens Colorado offers pre-surgery tours to help your family . If your child is too young, we also have a pre-surgery video to share or helpful tips about how to talk to your child and their siblings about surgery. And, to put your mind at ease, read through 10 ways to help you for your childs surgery.