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Laparoscopic live-donor nephrectomy: a call to action

Nature Clinical Practice Nephrology volume 4, pages 176–177 (2008)Cite this article

Renal transplantation is the best long-term treatment option for patients with end-stage renal disease. Unfortunately, there is a large disparity between the number of patients waiting for a kidney transplant and the number of available organs. This gap is continuously widening; the number of patients on the waiting list has doubled over the past decade, with only a nominal change in the number of cadaveric donors during this time period. Thus, increasing the rate of living kidney donation is the most promising means of augmenting the organ pool. Moreover, long-term results have revealed the superior quality of live-donor allografts compared with cadaveric kidneys more closely matched for human leukocyte antigen.

Living organ donors are most often family or friends who step forward when a patient is in need of a transplant. The factors that motivate a given individual to donate are complex and include altruism, love, fear, and greed. Equally at play are disincentives to donation. Potential donors might not be able to temporarily place their lives on hold. Moreover, most people try to avoid the self-inflicted pain and disfigurement associated with surgery. Laparoscopic live-donor nephrectomy (LLDN) was born out of an attempt to address these concerns.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. S Rais-Bahrami is a Urology Resident and LR Kavoussi is Chairman and Professor of Urology, at The Arthur Smith Institute for Urology, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, Manhasset, NY, USA.,

    Soroush Rais-Bahrami & Louis R Kavoussi

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  1. Soroush Rais-Bahrami
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  2. Louis R Kavoussi
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Correspondence to Louis R Kavoussi.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Rais-Bahrami, S., Kavoussi, L. Laparoscopic live-donor nephrectomy: a call to action. Nat Rev Nephrol 4, 176–177 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpneph0745

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