Life Span

[Zach]

The statistics show that the average kidney transplanted from a cadaver lasts 12 years, while the average kidney from a living donor lasts 24 years.

Lets get the facts straight.
What you're referring to is the half-life, not the average length of graft function.
Half-life is an estimation -- a projection of what might be.

Half-life means that half of the kidneys within the particular category will function fewer than the stated years and half will survive longer.

Also, the calculation of this estimation does not include those transplants which have failed within the first 12 months.

Type of kidney transplant              Kidney graft half-life in years
Living Donor 
      HLA Identical                        26.5 years
      Offspring                              18.7 years
      Spouse Unrelated                   15.8 years
      Distant Relative                      18.4 years
Deceased Donor 
     HLA Identical                         17.3 years
     Non-HLA Identical                   10.9 years

As better drugs continue to come down the pike, transplants from all sources will last longer.  While these are very good numbers, we just need to understand what they represent.
 

[EMMA]

Zach...

That is great information...thanks...

[stauffenberg]

Zach, I am not writing for publication in a scientific journal when I contribute to this forum, so because most of the members of this forum are neither scientists nor captious people with nothing better to do than fuss obsessively over the exact definition every word as though these were binding contracts rather than just informal posts we are writing, I used the word 'average' rather than 'half-life' because most people understand the first concept but not the second.  For a discussion with a general audience, these terms are sufficient approximations to each other as statistical concepts to suffice.  I also did not discuss the statistics in terms of median or mean survival times either, which might also be instructive perspectives to take.  Finally, the source I used, from the New England Journal of Medicine, DID include graft failures in the first few post-transplant months in its statistics.

[Zach]

I used the word 'average' rather than 'half-life' because most people understand the first concept but not the second

Using the word "average" and "lasts 24 years" is misleading.

People looking into transplantation need to be given a more accurate picture of what they can expect, then they can make an informed decision.
 

[Roxy]

I used the word 'average' rather than 'half-life' because most people understand the first concept but not the second. 

Stauffenberg, you make it sound as though the rest of us on this site wouldn't be able to understand the terms. However, when Zach explained it, it seems quite simple to grasp. The way I see it, the more accurate information the better. We're all here to learn from eachother. Information is great knowledge and everyone's contributions are helpful, but if someone can give us a more accurate idea of what we're looking at, it helps make us all that much more informed. Just my 

[okarol]

Zach,
Where did you get those statistics? I am always looking for resources.
Thanks,
K

[Zach]

Zach,
Where did you get those statistics? I am always looking for resources.
Thanks,
K

Here you go:
http://transplant.emory.edu/kidney/patient/evaluation.cfm

[okarol]

Zach,
Where did you get those statistics? I am always looking for resources.
Thanks,
K

Here you go:
http://transplant.emory.edu/kidney/patient/evaluation.cfm

Wow that was fast! Thanks. 

[stauffenberg]

Interestingly, one study of outcomes in renal transplant patients (C. Porticelli, et al, "Risk Factors for Late Kidney Allograft Failure" Kidney International, vol. 63, no. 5 (May, 2003) 1960) found that although the overall graft half-life was 20 years, if transplanted kidneys which failed due to death of the transplant recipient were excluded from the statistics, then the graft half-life was 31.3 years.  This suggests that the limit to patient life expectancy among those with transplants is not entirely set by the lifespan of the transplanted organ, but by the patients themselves, who die of old age or co-morbidities before the kidney would have otherwise failed.

[Bill Peckham]

I haven't been able to find much evidence or any statistics that say what the avaerage length of time someone can live on dialysis is. Does anybody know or even have a ball-park figure of what that might be?
I realise that it would vary widely and be dependant on many factors, but I can't help but wonder.
Yesterday, I received a package in the mail from a hospital that my nephrologist had sent to me. It's information about getting a kidney transplant, along with the forms for registering and getting the specific tests done to initiate the process.
I am still undecided. I don't feel too bad, being on dialysis, and there is also the fact that because I have hepatitis C, I would only be eligble to receive a kidney from a Hep C patient.
Also, the information I have read about the side-effects of the anti-rejection drugs one has to take, following a transplant, is not encouraging, to say the least.
How long can someone live on dialysis?

To the original question - I know this is often a question people have when they hear the diagnosis of severe kidney disease: How long will I live? What are the averages?

I answer these questions here http://www.billpeckham.com/from_the_sharp_end_of_the/2008/03/dialysis-lifesp.html.

Bottom line? You can live a long time on dialysis; do not max out your credit cards.

the links get stripped if I post here - I think this is the data you were asking for but read the blog post too - I make some of the same points about averages that Zach and others have made, please keep them in mind. Here is the table from the USRDS that I post on my blog in a bigger form

[kitkatz]

Ooops! I have used up my nine.four years!

[aharris2]

Ooops! I have used up my nine.four years!

Kitkatz, try our application of the table, we will use these statistics to our advantage:

Rolando started dialysis at age 39 with a 9.4 year expected lifetime.
When he hit 40, he moved into the next bracket, "promising" 8.1 more years.
Next month (in one week) he'll move into the 45-49 bracket with 7.1 more years expected.
This way, we won't run into trouble until the 60-64 bracket with only 4.5 years left, and then we will simply quit consulting the table. However, we want that 1.9 years offered at 85+!
 

Live life.

Alene

[Zach]

You can live a long time on dialysis; do not max out your credit cards.

And I've done both!  Damn fundraising for my documentaries.
 

[okarol]

Bill, any idea why I cannot access this link? http://www.billpeckham.com/from_the_sharp_end_of_the/2008/03/dialysis-lifesp.html - thanks

[Bill Peckham]

Bill, any idea why I cannot access this link? http://www.billpeckham.com/from_the_sharp_end_of_the/2008/03/dialysis-lifesp.html - thanks

My whole site seems to be down for some reason - I was working today I didn't actually check it 'til just now.  I'm going to go walk my dog in the park and hope it fixes itself. Computers are shortening my lifespan just because of the aggravation.

[okarol]

I hope it gets better soon! Computer, HEAL THYSELF! 

[Bill Peckham]

Okarol you're cyber Shaman.

Did you sacrifice a floppy disc or something?

[kitkatz]

Okarol put on her Shaman mask last night and did the Dance of the Heal the Computer.