Kidney Scan?

[kimcanada]

Hi everyone:

I have a question about a test called a kidney scan...

My donor is down to two tests, the first is an ultra sound on her kidney, and the second is a kidney scan.  I am not familiar with a kidney scan test, does anyone know what this is and whats it for?

Thanks
Kim

[boxman55]

Hi Kim, I can't help you on the scan but, I do have a question for you. My sister wants to donate to me. How long did it take your potential donor to get through all her testing. What kind of time frame can I look forward too? Thanks...Boxman

[Psim]

I had something called a renal scan before getting one kidney removed -- it was to see exactly how much function each kidney had. It was an easy, boring test, getting a dye injection, waiting around for the dye to absorb, and then just lying there while they videoed my kidneys at work. I don't know if it's the same thing, but it makes sense they might do that kind of scan on a donor -- to make sure each kidney is working well, and to see which one is the best of the two (so the donor can keep that one!). Like I said, it may not be the same, but I bet it is.

[sisterdonor]

I am weeks away from donating and have finished all of my testing.  My testing was pushed thru faster to try to get us a date in January for the actual surgery.  The main part of the testing took 3 weeks.  There were extra tests that were needed and those delayed things a bit so from the start of testing to the surgery date is 11 weeks.  One of the extra tests was a renal flow scan.  This test was not part of the usual workup to be a donor.  It is called for if the sonogram shows that one kidney is larger than the other.  What it does is show the flow from each kidney.  If it's within 10% of each other it's OK.  In my case one was 49% and the other 51% so that was fine with the doctors. 

Another test which is not done unless a donor has cleared all of the other tests is the Renal Angiogram.  Not all centers do this test as it is quite invasive so they wouldn't subject anyone who potentially could be ruled out to having it done.   Some centers do a CT Scan or an MRI of the kidneys instead.  I had to have the angiogram.  It requires the donor to stay in the hospital almost all day with about 2 hrs in recovery and another 4 hrs in a room lying flat with monitoring.  The purpose is to look for any blockages or stenosis of the arteries and also so the surgeon can see the precise architecture of the kidneys so they can determine which one is most suitable.  Most people have one artery to each kidney.  Some kidneys have multiple arteries and veins and sometimes the kidneys are found not to be suitable for transplantation at all.  In my case, there are two arteries on each kidney.  One is suitable and one is not.  They will take the one with the two arteries that are closest to each other.  Unfortunately, this means that the surgery will most likely have to be the Open Nephrectomy instead of the Laparoscopic. 

[boxman55]

Thank you Sisterdonor. That is a big help and I know there are a lot of people that are very proud of you. I am...Boxman

[kimcanada]

That sounds just like it, I am going to pass this info on to my friend...

Boxman, I might not be the person to ask about how long the testing process takes,  when my sister was being tested it took the best part of a year, the coordinator was hopeless, something that should have takin a week would take months.

Then my sister could not donate and my friend decided to try, we got a new coordinator and we are just about finished and its been not even 2 months.

So my wish to you is that you get a kick ass coordinator, because they  have your life in their hands.

Kim