Simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation is improved by living kidney donation program

BACKGROUND: Shortage of suitable donors and current graft allocation priorities reduce the number of cadaveric kidneys available to diabetic recipients. The concurrent excess of solitary cadaveric pancreata and the excellent results of living kidney transplantation make simultaneous cadaveric pancreas-living kidney transplantation (SPLKTx) an attractive alternative to simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPKTx). METHODS: Between June 2001 and June 2003, 80 recipients were enrolled in the SPKTx waiting list. Each recipient's family was counseled about living kidney donation (LKD). Twenty-nine (36.2%) candidates were evaluated for LKD and 8 (27.6%) were disqualified. The remaining 21 candidates were scheduled for LKD and 18 actually donated. RESULTS: Thanks to LKD 18 additional recipients were transplanted, thus expanding the donor pool from 33 to 51 (P =.004). The median waiting time for SPLKTx was 14 days as compared with 95 days for SPKTx (P =.006). Without LKD the median waiting time for SPKTx would have been 198 days (P =.02). Similarly, 1 year after the enrollment on the waiting list 60% of recipients had been transplanted, while without LKD only 42% would had been grafted (P =.01). Two-year recipient survival rate was 100% for SPLKTx compared with 96.9% for SPKTx. Equivalent figures for kidney and pancreas were 80.0% and 84.0% for SPLKTx compared with 96.9% and 96.9% for SPKTx. CONCLUSIONS: LKD expanded the kidney donor pool, reduced the waiting time of recipients listed for a totally cadaveric procedure, and increased their chance to get a timely graft. One-year outcome of SPLKTx equaled that of SPKTx.