A National Leader in Living Kidney Donation
Montefiore Einstein’s track record of excellence in living donor transplant spans more than 40 years. Live kidney donation can shorten lengthy wait times, expedite surgery and potentially save a life. Living donors increase the number of kidneys available and make it possible for more patients to get transplants. With over 100,000 patients currently on the wait-list for a kidney transplant in the United States, finding a donor represents the primary challenge of transplantation.
While kidneys on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) waitlist come from deceased donors, living organ donations come from healthy, living donors. In living donation, one of the donor’s kidneys is removed and used to replace the patient's kidney that does not work. Removal of a single kidney is safe with very low risk to the donor.
The Many Benefits of Living Kidney Donation
Living organ donors make the best donors because living donor kidneys usually last longer and start working faster than deceased donor kidneys. Transplant is a preferred treatment option for many, since patients often live longer and have a better quality of life than they would on dialysis.
Montefiore Einstein participates in a kidney-paired exchange program through the National Kidney Registry, which helps patients with healthy but incompatible donors. Kidney paired donation or paired exchange is an approach to living donor kidney transplantation where patients with incompatible donors swap or exchange kidneys to receive a compatible kidney.
Improved patient outcomes
Some patients may respond better to a live donor kidney than to one from a deceased donor.
Better for babies and kids
Live organ donation may be especially beneficial for pediatric patients, who often have long waits because of the lack of a suitably sized match from a deceased donor.
Advanced planning
Timing of transplant can be controlled and conveniently scheduled.
Who Qualifies as a Living Kidney Donor
Kidneys can be donated by anyone who’s healthy and over 18 years of age—a parent, child, spouse, other relative or someone emotionally connected to the recipient, like a friend. Altruistic kidney donations made by a stranger or Good Samaritan may come from living organ donors who are at least 21 years old. Qualified donors must:
- Be healthy adults over 18 years old (21 years if an altruistic donor)
- Have no major existing medical issues
What to Expect as a Living Donor
All surgeries have risks. However, living kidney donation has been performed for over 60 years and shown to be a safe procedure for healthy people. Every year, five to six thousand people across the country donate their kidneys. Our team will perform a thorough evaluation, including running a number of tests, to make sure your risk is as low as possible.
Laparoscopic, minimally invasive kidney donation surgery makes it possible to do the entire procedure by making small holes in the abdomen. With laparoscopic surgery, donors have less pain, fewer and smaller scars, a shorter hospital stay, quicker recovery and a faster return to normal activities.
Becoming a Living Kidney Donor
A living organ donor can be a relative, friend or simply an altruistic stranger. All donors can remain anonymous, if they so choose. All candidates undergo a thorough independent screening process, where they’re provided extensive education about the surgery and informed of any potential risks. In the instance a candidate lives far away, a portion of the evaluation can be done remotely.
If you are interested in being evaluated as a living donor please click the link below to fill out an initial questionnaire. You can also contact our Living Donor Team at 1-844LIVEDON (1-844-548-3366).
Schedule a Visit
Have a general question or concern?
We’re available to help you by phone or by email.
718-655-1120 • transplant@montefiore.org