Kidney Transplantation 

Recognized by U.S. News & World Report magazine as a top hospital caring for patients with kidney disease, OSU Medical Center is home to one of the top 10 largest kidney transplant programs in the country.We performed our first kidney transplant in 1967 and have long been a nationally-recognized leader in kidney transplantation. OSU transplant surgeons perform more than 250 kidney transplants per year.

Kidney Transplant Candidates
For most patients who are suffering end-stage kidney failure, kidney transplantation is the best treatment. Solid organ kidney transplant involves surgically replacing your damaged kidney with a kidney that has been donated by a deceased or a living donor. Those whose kidneys have permanently failed due to chronic end-stage renal disease caused by diabetes mellitus, hypertension, autoimmune disease, congenital abnormalities or because of infection or trauma (injury) may be a candidates for a kidney transplant.

In the past, age was a major factor. Today, however, patients range from six-month-old infants to 70-year-old adults. Your overall health status is what is most considered.

Two Sources of Life
Transplants may come from deceased or living donors. New therapies, including some tested in clinical trials at OSU Medical Center, have broadened the possibilities for both types of transplants.

• If you wish to receive a kidney from a deceased donor, please inquire about being placed on a waiting list. Wait time for this type of kidney varies. Approximately half of all kidney transplants performed at the OSU Comprehensive Transplant Center are kidneys from deceased donors.
  
• A living donor may or may not be a closely-related family member. At one time only immediate family members – parents, brothers and sisters or sons and daughters – were considered ideal living donors. Today you may receive a kidney from just about any healthy person who is between the ages of 18 and 60, including extended family members (cousins, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews) and even someone who is unrelated to you, such as friend, member of your religious community or your spouse.

Life After Transplant
Most patients who have been on dialysis prior to their transplant say they enjoy a marked improvement in the quality of their lives. Generally patients return to normal activities within six weeks of discharge from the hospital. Although anti-rejection medication is necessary for the rest of a patient’s life, dietary and fluid restrictions will most likely be lifted, so that life can be more normal.

Making it Possible
Private medical insurance and Medicare’s End-Stage Renal Disease Program share in covering the cost of kidney transplantation. The Veteran’s Administration or Medicaid may also be a source of financial aid for those patients who are eligible.

If you would like additional information about kidney transplantation, please talk to your doctor who specializes in kidneys (known as a nephrologist), your dialysis nurse or your family physician. Ask them to contact the Kidney Transplant Program at the OSU Comprehensive Transplant Center (614) 293-6724 to arrange for you and your family to attend an introductory information session in our outpatient clinic and meet with one of our transplant surgeons.

For more information about kidney transplants, please use the following links:

National Kidney Foundation
United Network for Organ Sharing
DonateLifeOhio
Transplant Living
TransWeb
MedLinePlus