Deceased Donor Facts

• If your Kidney Transplant Team approves you for a kidney transplant, you will be placed on the Kidney Transplant Waiting List for a Deceased Kidney Donor (average 3-7 years) unless you find a Living Kidney Donor.
• Many factors are involved in your Waiting List Time to be considered to receive a Deceased Kidney Donor such as your geographical location, blood/tissue type, length of time on dialysis, your age, current health status, etc.
• Patients on the Kidney Transplant Waiting List need to be aware of the Kidney Donor Profile Index (KDPI) when considering to accept a Deceased Donor Kidney.  Lower KDPI scores are associated with longer estimated function and higher KDPI scores are associated with shorter estimated function.
• A Deceased Kidney Donor has the potential of not working for several days or weeks until the kidney “wakes up” and starts to function.  Dialysis may be required until the kidney begins to function.
• A Deceased Kidney Donor Transplant has a higher potential risk for complications & rejection compared to a Living Donor Kidney Transplant.
• A scheduled surgery might be cancelled if doctors find out that:  1) Tests show the donor kidney is not a good match for the recipient  2) Something is wrong with the donor kidney which eliminates it for a viable transplant.
• Approximately two-thirds of the approximately 25,000 kidney transplants performed in 2023 in the USA were deceased kidney donors and the remaining (@6500) were living kidney donors.