accepting and increased risk kidney

[jenb]

If you are not on dialysis and doing ok physically, what are your feelings on accepting an "increased risk" kidney?

I am also finding it difficult to understand the KDPI.  What is a good number range for a 69 year old healthy person to be trying to obtain?

[Simon Dog]

I suggest you talk this over with your neph well in advance of the call.

My neph and a transplant both came up with "up to 60" for me (I am age 60, no comorbidities).

The transplant nephrologist told me I should accept anything offered (which means up to 85)

Consider that at your age you are not eligible for a KDPI <=20 unless all applicants who are eligible turn it down.  Also, KDPIs 21-30 are given priority for pediatric patients (at least according to the local transplant neph).

The literature suggests a significant correlation between low KDPI and long graft longevity, however, that is not an assurance - just an average.   You can get one that violates the average in either direction.

I would not worry about a "higher risk" kidney which is a term used for people who died while serving time in the big house or of a drug OD.   Nucleic acid testing (NAT) can detect HIV within about 3 days of exposure.   This "higher risk" designation (sometimes called "high risk") is given independently of the KDPI number.   I accepted a high-risk KDPI 33 kidney, and passed my HIV, Hep A and Hep B tests 3 months post-transplant.