TransplantNow The Ultimate Guide to Clinical Transplant Research

The standard method of kidney preservation uses an acellular solution at low temperatures, either cold storage or with machine perfusion. This article describes an system which adapts cardioplumonary bypass technology to perfuse the kidney with a oxygenated blood prior to implantation. In this uncontrolled study, kidneys that underwent ex vivo normothermic perfusion had a low […]

A revision of Japan’s Organ Transplant Law in 2009 led to an ethical debate on the differences in definitions of death, age requirements for donors, requirements for brain-death determination and organ extraction, and the appropriateness of priority transplants for relatives. Many hoped the revised law would permit transplants in Japan according to global standards. However, […]

This article, and the 6 open peer commentaries that accompany it, discusses whether ante mortem donation of kidneys is ethically feasible in those patients in whom a decision has been made to discontinue life sustaining therapy. The authors argue that this strategy is ethically equivalent to donation after cardiac death, since the ante mortem removal […]

The use of CDC-criteria high-risk donors in transplantation is controversial.  The use of pre-transplant nucleic acid amplification testing (NAT) for HCV and HIV reduces the window period for these infections.  There are limited data on follow-up of patients that receive organs from high-risk donors.  In this single-center study, 50 patients received kidney transplants from high-risk […]

This article, part of CJASN’s new section on public policy, critically analyzes the new policy proposal by UNOS to allocate deceased donors kidneys in the UNOS.  The authors examine several potential objections: 1. Is waiting time a fair way to rank order patients since there are disparities in gaining access to listing? 2. It is […]

Presumed consent (PC) legislation has been touted as a potential solution to the disparity between supply and demand for deceased donor organs.  This study examines the legislation in European countries with and without presumed consent legislation and reports on interviews with senior transplant physicians in these countries.  The authors conclude that there are multiple country-specific, […]

The author outlines the recent changes to Japanese law and transplant policy that allow for organ procurement after brain death with only family consent (previously there had to also be prior written consent from the donor). As well, the new Japanese law allows donors to prioritize family members to receive their organs after brain death, […]