OUTCOME OF TRANSPLANTATION OF NON-HEART-BEATING DONOR KIDNEYS

To reduce the shortage of kidneys for transplantation, we started a no n-heart-beating (NHB) donor programme, and compared the short-term and long-term outcomes of kidneys from NHB donors with those of a matched group of kidneys from heart-beating (HB) donors. 57 NHB kidneys were procured at the University Hospital in Msaastricht and at three region al hospitals in the Netherlands, and were transplanted in 21 transplan t centres within the Eurotransplant exchange organisation. 114 matched controls from HB donors were selected from Eurotransplant files. Mean follow-up was 85 months. At 5 years, graft survival was 54% for NHB k idneys and 55% for HB kidneys; patient survival was 75% and 77%. Kidne ys from NHB donors had a significantly higher rate of delayed graft fu nction (60% vs 35%), resulting in a longer hospital stay. Primary non- function of the graft was seen as frequently in the NHB donor-kidney g roup as in the HB group (14% vs 8%, p=0.3). We conclude that NHB donor s are a valuable source of kidneys for transplantation.