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National Leaders in Living-Donor Kidney Transplant

At UPMC, we believe in the power of living donation and consider it a first-line treatment option.

During a living-donor kidney transplant, a surgeon will remove a healthy kidney from a living donor, who can be a relative, friend, or stranger, and transplant it into the person with kidney failure. This procedure is possible because, although most people have two kidneys, both the donor and the recipient can live a perfectly healthy life with only one working kidney.

The supply of deceased-donor kidneys is far less than the high demand. As the national kidney transplant waiting list continues to grow, 17 people die each day waiting for a kidney transplant, and the expected waiting time for a deceased-donor kidney transplant is more than five years. With living donation, a patient may be able to receive a kidney transplant in less time.

What Does this Mean for Your Patient?

Living-donor kidney transplantation provides consistent benefits to patients with kidney disease. Advantages include:

  • A lower incidence of complication
  • Better graft function
  • Elimination of transplant waiting times
  • Expansion of the donor pool
  • Improved graft survival and patient survival
  • Less delayed graft function
  • Shorter hospital stays

At UPMC, we educate every patient we evaluate about the benefits of a living-donor kidney transplant. We offer resources to assist patients with identifying a living donor through our Living Donor Champion Program.

Contact the team at the UPMC Kidney Transplant Program.