Weight of donors and recipients is the key to success in kidney transplants, say scientists.
A new study of over 1,000 transplant patients found those receiving a small kidney in proportion to their weight were more at risk of complications, the latest edition of the ’Journal of the American Society of Nephrology’ reported.
According to the scientists, the findings would give surgeons a new chance to improve long—term survival.
In fact, in their study, the scientists followed the transplant patients for an average of six years after their operation.
Using a calculation based on the weight of the donor kidney, and the weight of the person having the transplant, they found that those receiving a small kidney for their size had more complications.
These included high blood pressure, kidney scarring, and a 55 per cent increased risk of transplant failure two years after the operation.
Study leader Professor Jean Paul Soulillou, from the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, said from a clinical point of view the impact of the finding was similar to when researchers identified markers to enable tissue type to be matched to reduce the risk of rejection.
“This information is potentially useful for thousands of transplants and provides a new opportunity to improve long-term graft survival,” he was quoted by the ‘BBC’ as saying.
