How bad is bad?

[WfMonkey]

So they just discovered that my donor brother has proteinuria. It's very minor compared to mine, and his kidney function is fine - will this disqualify him from donating or are there degrees of bad?

[Deanne]

I'm sorry to hear this! Will they recheck him? I suspect if they recheck and he's still positive, it'll disqualify him and he'll be headed for a biopsy. FSGS can be genetic. Since you have it and if your brother is spilling protein, there's a chance he also has FSGS.

I have FSGS and my teenaged nephew was also diagnosed with FSGS. My neph said that proof of a genetic link alone will likely disqualify any of my siblings as donors for me because studies have shown a high chance of recurrance. I had FSGS for about 20 years with "fine" kidney function and my nephew's kidney function is also fine for now, but he's spilling a low level of protein.