Racial disparities exist among living kidney donors, post donation: Research

Better pre-donation counseling, post-donation follow up needed, SLU research finds

Black and Hispanic kidney donors are significantly more likely than white donors to develop hypertension, diabetes and chronic kidney disease, according to new Saint Louis University research published in the August 19, 2010 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"We've long known that diabetes and hypertension disproportionately affect blacks and Hispanics. Our research found that these racial disparities also exist among living kidney donors, post donation," said Krista Lentine, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine and lead researcher at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. "Increased attention to health outcomes among demographically diverse kidney donors is needed."

Researchers say that while these findings should not be used to discourage anyone from donating on the basis of race and ethnicity alone, these factors should be taken into consideration when counseling potential donors about their future health risks.

Given the significant organ shortage, many patients with end-stage renal disease rely on living donor kidney transplantation. According to Lentine, in 2006, approximately 27,000 live donor kidney transplants were reported worldwide, and live donors supplied nearly 40 percent of kidney transplants in the U.S.

The need for live kidney donors is greatest among blacks, who are significantly more likely to develop end-stage renal disease, yet have less access to kidney transplants. Researchers say that blacks are less likely to identify a potential donor and their potential donors are more likely to have health conditions at evaluation that limit their ability to donate.