News From Transplant Week of May 26, 2002 / Vol. 3 No. 21

 

Anonymous Living Kidney Donations More Than Double in 2001
 

The number of anonymous donations of a kidney, to be transplanted to an unknown recipient, more than doubled last year to a new U.S. high of 26, according to United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) data.

While anonymous donation remains a relatively small phenomenon, allowed by a relatively few transplant centers, the practice was virtually unheard of only several years ago and the 2001 total was up sharply from 11 the previous year.

Thus far, most of these anonymous transplants have been facilitated either by the Washington Regional Transplant Consortium, the organ procurement organization serving the greater Washington, DC area, or by the University of Minnesota.

A spokesperson for the Washington group said it has been approached by more than 100 people interested in anonymously donating a kidney, with 11 of the inqueries ultimately resulting in transplants.

"We're always looking at ways to find more organs and this is just one," said spokeswoman Toni Webb. "Most people say it was an easy thing to do."

While many people have expressed interest over the years in donating one of their two kidneys, physicians have largely turned them away for a variety of reasons -- not the least of which is concern over their motives.

"Our knee-jerk reaction is, is this person a saint or a psychopath?" said Dr. Mark D. Fox of the University of Rochester, who chairs the UNOS Ethis Committee. "Motivation is very hard to really get at, so the best we can do is identify those things we consider unacceptable and exclude those people.

"Very often we get a sense from prospective donors that somehow this is going to atone for their sins," said Fox. "On the other hand, we've had people that said, 'I've volunteered all my life, I've given 25 gallons of blood, I work for Meals on Wheels,' and this is just an extension of the behavior pattern they've established all along."

With more than 52,000 Americans now on waiting lists for a kidney transplant, many experts expect an increasing number of centers to become more willing to accept -- if not actively encourage -- anonymous donation in the years ahead.

It was only a relatively short time ago that most centers were reluctant to accept kidneys from living donors not directly related to the involving friends, co-workers, neighbors -- increased to 1,368 last year.

Other sources: UNOS, AP