GFR too high for a pre-emptive transplant?

[enginist]

My nephrologist says that having a GFR reading above 19 make a person ineligible to get on the transplant list.  However, I think I read somewhere that if a GFR of, say, 25 or 30 had once been 19 or below, then the eligibility is retained.  Is there a national policy on eligibility with respect to GFR, or does every transplant center make its own rules?  I've read that about 30% of transplants are pre-emptive.  What is the average GFR for a preemptive transplant?  I'm hoping that mine just stays where it is, but if it goes down to 10 or so, it might be good to be on somebody's list.

[Naynay99]

Hey. I’m not sure if there’s a standard rule on the gfr number.  But at my latest tx evaluation they first read my bloodwork wrong and were reading gfr value if African American, which is a higher value.  She realized her mistake but said that if my gfr did go over 20 after being as low as 16, they would have just used older lab bloodwork that showed gfr below 20 so that I would still qualify for a tx and could get listed.   
I would think that the majority of preemptive tx are from live donors, as the waiting times for kidneys has gotten so long, but that is just a guess.  Anyway Good luck.  I wouldn’t just take ur nephrologists word, I would contact unos or ur local organ procurement agency and ask them directly for their policy on gfr. 
Take care.

[enginist]

Hi Naynay--

I think I found the answer.  You were right and my nephrologist was wrong.  If the GFR has been below 20 at any time, you're still eligible for a transplant even if it shoots up again.  And I think that the two years mine was at 16 and 17 can be considered time on the list.  I also discovered that I don't need a referral from my nephrologist to schedule an evaluation.  I can make an appointment myself.  One of the transplant surgeons said they throw away a lot of kidney's every year, and some of these still have life in them, approximately four or five years.  If my kidney crashes because of some insidious illness, I'd rather spend my last five years with a transplant instead of on dialysis, both of which, at least at my age, are temporary fixes.