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A kidney transplant is an operation that places a healthy kidney in your body. The transplanted kidney takes over the work of the two kidneys that failed, and you no longer need dialysis.
During a transplant, the surgeon places the new kidney in your lower abdomen and connects the artery and vein of the new kidney to your artery and vein. Often, the new kidney will start making urine as soon as your blood starts flowing through it. But sometimes it takes a few weeks to start working.
Many transplanted kidneys come from donors who have died. Some come from a living family member. The wait for a new kidney can be long. People who have transplants must take drugs to keep their body from rejecting the new kidney for the rest of their lives.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
'''Kidney transplantation''' or '''renal transplantation''' is the organ transplant of a kidney in a patient with chronic renal failure or some renal tumors. The main types are cadaveric and living donor transplant. In the former, the kidney originates from a deceased person. In the latter, the kidney is being donated by an organ donor. The first succesful kidney transplantation was done in 1954 in Boston. The transplantation was done between identical twins, to eliminate any problems of an immune reaction. It was actually the first successful human organ transplant in history. The kidney was the easiest organ to transplant, tissue-typing was simple, the organ was relatively easy to remove and implant, live donors could be used without difficulty, and in the event of failure kidney dialysis was available from the 1940s. Tissue-typing was essential to the success, early attempts in the 1950s on sufferers from Bright's disease had been very unsuccessful.The transplantation was done by Joseph Murray, who received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1990. The recipient is still alive as of 2005, the donor passed away a few years after the transplantation. Occasionally, the kidney is transplanted together with the pancreas. This is done in patients with diabetes mellitus type I, in whom the diabetes is due to destruction of the beta cells of the pancreas and in whom the diabetes has caused renal failure (diabetic nephropathy). This is cadaveric by definition, as a living donor could not live without a pancreas. This can pose a dilemma when the patient has potential living donor candidates. The donor and recipient have to be Human leukocyte antigen (tissue type) identical, and should ideally share as many "minor antigens" as possible. This decreases the risk of transplant rejection and need for dialysis and a further transplant. The risk of rejection after transplant may be reduced if the donor and ... [ Read More ]
Second Chances: Receiving the Gift of Life - Inspirational stories about donor families and liver, kidney, and heart transplant recipients. Detailed medical information about the heart transplant surgery itself and also the process for getting listed for a heart transplant.
LifeNet - LifeNet is the largest, full-service, non-profit allograft Tissue Banking System in the United States. LifeNet is also a non-profit, federally-designated, Organ Procurement Organization providing donation systems for heart, liver, kidney, pancreas,lung, and other organs for transplant.
Genzyme Corp. - Products targeted on rare inherited disorders, kidney disease, orthopaedics, transplant and immune disease, cancer, and diagnostic testing. Includes links to global subsidiaries, headquartered from Cambridge, Massachusetts (Nasdaq: GENZ)
Bryan's Kidney Page - Born with kidney failure Bryan has just celebrated his 5th Kidney transplant. Information on organ transplantation.
Kidney Transplant - Consumer health resource center providing information on the risks and benefits of kidney transplant. From eMedicine Health.
ESRD Treatment Choices - A discussion about hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and kidney transplantation in the treatment of end-stage renal disease.
Gil's Home - My personal stories about two failed kidney transplants, hemodialysis since 1984, and a recent trial run of peritoneal dialysis.
In Focus: A Photographic Journey - John F. Martin, a photojournalist, documented his bout with kidney failure, dialysis and the live-donor transplant he received from his father. Over 100 photos take the reader through the year-long process step-by-step.
Dialysis Units in the USA - National listing of medicare providers furnishing kidney dialysis and transplant services in US.
Kidney Transplant/Dialysis Association, Inc. - Information about the services provided by this Boston-based association, as well as a patient handbook and related sites.