Studies address long-term health of living kidney donors

While it's important to monitor the health of recipients following kidney transplantation, it's equally important to assess the ongoing health of living donors who have generously given up an organ. Several studies that will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2015 November 3-8 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, CA address various aspects of donor health.

Investigators led by Morgan Grams, MD (CKD Prognosis Consortium) have developed equations to predict the lifetime incidence of kidney failure, or end stage renal disease (ESRD), according to a donor's baseline demographic and health characteristics before kidney donation. The team found that the predicted predonation lifetime incidence ofESRD varied by age, race, and sex: 2.7%, 1.1%, 0.9%, and 0.6% in 20-year-old black men, black women, white men, and white women, respectively, and 0.6%, 0.3%, 0.3%, and 0.2% in the corresponding 60-year-old candidates. The lifetime incidence of ESRD was higher with additional risk factors, particularly low kidney function. The predicted lifetime incidence of ESRD before donation was <1% in 88% of recent US donors.

"We suggest consideration of predonation lifetime ESRD risk in the evaluation and counseling of potential living kidney donors," the authors concluded. "Our equations estimate a person's lifetime incidence of ESRD in the absence of donation according to multiple demographic and clinical characteristics."

In two studies, Hassan Ibrahim, MD, FASN (University of Minnesota) and his colleagues examined the health impacts of 2 conditions in living kidney donors: diabetes and high blood pressure. The team found that kidney donors who develop diabetes or hypertension have a 2- to 4-times higher risk of experiencing reduced kidney function compared with donors who remain free of these conditions. "Moreover, demographic and laboratory variables can be used to predict individual patients' risks of developing diabetes and hypertension with reasonable accuracy, especially among white donors," said Dr. Ibrahim.