J Korean Soc Transplant.  2001 Jun;15(1):13-18.

Comparison of the Survival Rates of Spousal Kidney Transplantation and Parental Donor Kidney Transplantation

• Kim JC
• Cho S
• Cho JH
• Jang MH
• Shin YB
• Cho YJ
• Park SH
• Kim YL
• Cho DK
• Kim YW
• Kwon TG
• Chang SK

Abstract

PURPOSE: The continuing shortage of donors has escalated the waiting times for kidney transplantation in most nations. In instances where first-degree relatives of the patient are not appropriate, living unrelated transplantations are considered as the next possible choice. In this category, genetically unrelated but emotionally related spouses are always preferred for organ donation rather than both genetically and emotionally unrelated donors. The aim of this study was to compare the results of parental donor kidney transplantation with spousal kidney transplantation.
METHODS
Patient and graft survival were assessed with the Kaplan- Meier curve and statistical significance was determined by log-rank comparisons.
RESULTS
In the spousal group, 1-, 3-, and 5-year graft survival rate were 84.6%, 72.3%, and 66.3%, in the parental donor group, 89.2%, 75.4% and 62.3% respectively. 1-, 3-, and 5-year patient survival rate were 84.6%, 80.4%, and 71.5% in the spousal group and 97.3%, 94.3% and 90.6% respectively in the parental donor group. Survival rate of grafts from spouses was comparable to that of parental-donor grafts, despite the average of 4.1 HLA mismatches in the spousal group, as compared with one haplotype sharing in the latter group (P<0.001) and higher donor age in the parental donor group (P<0.001). The survival rates were similar in the wife-to-husband and the husband-to-wife groups.
CONCLUSION
While providing the couple with a better quality of life, spousal kidney transplantation also enables the couple to share the joy of giving and receiving the "gift of life" from one another. We believe that transplantation from a healthy volunteer spouse is a good alternative resource to years of dialysis while waiting for another donor that may never appear, to increase the donor pool and reduce the increasing length of waiting lists.

Keyword

End-stage renal disease; Graft survival rate; Spousal kidney transplantation; Parental donor kidney transplantation

MeSH Terms

Dialysis
Graft Survival
Haplotypes
Healthy Volunteers
Humans
Kidney Failure, Chronic
Kidney Transplantation*
Kidney*
Parents*
Quality of Life
Spouses
Survival Rate*
Tissue and Organ Procurement
Tissue Donors*
Transplants
Unrelated Donors
Waiting Lists