[Transplant cross-over, an attractive option]. / Il trapianto cross-over: un'attraente possibilità

ABSTRACT

Kidney transplant from living donors is an excellent option for patients with end- stage renal disease around the world approximately 10-20% of patients on waiting lists have intended living donors incompatible by blood type or for the presence of donor-specific antibodies. Current strategies to overcome these barriers are desensitization protocols and the recent option of the kidney exchange programs. In this work we describe the types of donor exchange programs, from the two-way Kidney Paired Donation, where two incompatible donor-recipient couples exchange donors, to complex chains of transplants where the altruistic donation of a kidney (Living Non-direct Donor, or non-specific donation) is associated to a Kidney Paired Exchange Program (Domino Kidney Paired Donation, NEAD chains). The thesis also discusses some related ethical topics that have become international matters of debate, as well as some important cultural and social arguments for and against the application of kidney exchanges in Italy.