Information and long-term follow-up on a large number of related kidney donors at a single institution

From 1963 to 1980, 628 living related kidney donors (LRD) gave kidneys (300 male, 328 female) at a single centre. Surgical complications in 107 donors included wound infections in 14, urine infections in 30, pulmonary events in 65, bleeding in 4, superficial thrombophlebitis in 3, adrenalectomies in 2 and splenectomy in 1. One donor developed a haemolytic uraemic syndrome 1 year after donation. Of 472 donors followed over 1-19 years, 81 have chronic complications, 54 incision pain, 17 incisional hernias, 9 recurrent urine infections and one a neurogenic bladder. Mean blood pressure before donation was 117/73 and in those currently normotensive it is 122/76 mm Hg: 36 of the 472 donors had hypertension before donation; this persisted in 15, while 25 other donors became hypertensive. The mean serum creatinine before donation was 80 ± 9 μmol/l. In 26 donors, urinary protein excretion was 7.1 ± 11.9 mg/24 h. The risk of unilateral nephrectomy is sufficiently low, and the benefits are sufficiently great, to justify LRD transplantation.