Using More Kidneys

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Anchor lead: Expanding criteria for using kidneys for transplant is possible, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Kidneys that have sustained acute kidney injury, known as AKI, will most often recover and function well when transplanted, a study led by Chirag Parikh, director of nephrology at Johns Hopkins and colleagues has shown. Parikh says actually getting these kidneys into use will require some effort.

Parikh: We will need champions at each of the transplant centers who start expanding into their usual practice taking the AKI kidneys. There are a lot of oversight organizations like UNOS and Medicare, who can facilitate this process by encouraging the use of these kidneys. And giving people a waiver that they will not include this in their report card. This would allow surgeons to transplant these kidneys and gain experience.   :30

Parikh says using AKI kidneys will help some of the 95,000 or so people who are currently on the transplant list to receive a new kidney. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.