Ten Years of Kidney Paired Donation at Mayo Clinic: The Benefits of Incorporating ABO/HLA Compatible Pairs.

BACKGROUND: We examined the 10-year experience of Mayo Clinic's kidney paired donation (KPD).We aimed to determine the benefits for the recipients of enrolled ABO/HLA compatible pairs and determine the factors associated with prolonged KPD waiting time. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of 332 kidney transplants facilitated by the Mayo 3-site KPD program from September 2007 to June 2018. RESULTS: The median (interquartile range) time from KPD entry to transplantation was 89 days (42-187 days). The factors independently associated with receiving a transplant >3 months after KPD entry included recipient blood type O and calculated panel reactive antibodies ≥98%. Fifty-four ABO/HLA compatible pairs participated in KPD for the following reasons: cytomegalovirus mismatch (18.5% [10/54]), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) mismatch (EBV) (9.3% [5/54]), age/size mismatch (51.9% [28/54]), or altruistic reasons (20.3% [11/54]). Cytomegalovirus and EBV mismatch were avoided in 90% (9/10) and 100% (5/5) of cases. Recipients who entered KPD for age/size mismatch and altruistic reasons received kidneys from donors with lower Living Kidney Donor Profile Index scores than their actual donor (median [interquartile range] 31.5 [12.3-47]; P < 0.001 and 26 (-1 to 46); P = 0.01 points lower, respectively). Median time to transplant from KPD entry for compatible pair recipients was 70 days (41-163 days), and 44.4% (24/54) of these transplants were preemptive. All chains/swaps incorporating compatible pairs included ABO/HLA incompatible pairs. CONCLUSIONS: KPD should be considered for all living donor/recipient pairs because the recipients of these pairs can derive personal benefit from KPD while increasing the donor pool for difficult to match pairs.

Assessing the efficacy of kidney paired donation--performance of an integrated three-site program.

BACKGROUND: Kidney paired donation (KPD) has emerged as a viable option for renal transplant candidates with incompatible living donors. The aim of this study was to assess the "performance" of a three-site KPD program that allowed screening of multiple donors per recipient. METHODS: We reviewed retrospectively the activity of our KPD program involving three centers under the same institutional umbrella. The primary goal was to achieve a transplant that was both ABO compatible and had a negative or low-positive flow cytometric crossmatch (+XM). RESULTS: During the 40-month study period, 114 kidney transplant candidates were enrolled-57% resulting from a +XM and 39% resulting from ABO incompatible (ABOi) donors. Important outcomes were as follows: (1) 81 (71%) candidates received a transplant and 33 (29%) were still waiting; (2) 368 donors were evaluated, including 10 nondirected donors; (3) 82% (37/45) of ABOi candidates underwent transplantation; (4) 56% (36/65) of +XM candidates underwent transplantation (however, all but four of these had a cPRA less than 95%); (5) at the end of the study period, 97% (28/29) of +XM candidates still waiting had a cPRA greater than 95%. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest evaluating large numbers of donors increases the chances of KPD. Patients with a cPRA greater than 95% are unlikely to receive a negative or low-positive +XM, suggesting the need for desensitization protocols in KPD.