Living Donor
Transplants
Due to the shortage of available organs and the successful outcomes following organ transplants from living donors, Jefferson’s Transplant team encourages transplants between spouses, friends and even strangers. In fact, nearly one-quarter of live donor transplants now come from donors who are not blood relatives.
Living Kidney Donors
In a living donor kidney transplant, a kidney is removed from a live donor and placed into a recipient whose kidneys no longer function properly; only one donated kidney is needed to replace two failed kidneys. Those who choose to become living donors have the same life expectancy rate and the same quality of life as those who have never donated a kidney.
Living Liver Donors
During a living donor liver transplant, a portion of the liver is removed from the live donor and placed into a recipient who has a diseased or malfunctioning liver. The liver is the only organ that has the ability to regenerate, so the partial section will grow so that both donor and recipient will have a normal size liver. Those who decide to become a living donor have the same life expectancy rate and quality of life.
Kidney Paired Exchange
The Jefferson Transplant Institute partners with national organ registries to work with live donors and their recipients – helping to facilitate transplantation between relatives or nonrelative donor pairings. Our team of transplant coordinators, live donor advocates, financial coordinators, social workers and medical specialists work together to provide comprehensive support to both donors and recipients.
Do You Meet the Requirements for Donating an Organ?
To donate a kidney or liver for a friend or loved one, you must meet a number of criteria:
- Be in good health and free of chronic illness, such as diabetes or heart disease
- Kidney Donation: Have two normal-functioning kidneys
- Liver Donation: Have a fully-functioning liver
- Be willing to undergo a series of physical exams and tests, including: chest X-ray, electrocardiogram, blood studies, CT scan, urine studies
- Undergo a social service and psychological evaluation
- Be at least 18 years of age
Are You & the Recipient Compatible?
In the event that a potential living donor is incompatible with their intended recipient and a nonrelated living donor is unavailable, a living organ exchange is another option available at Jefferson.
Jefferson’s Transplant Program recognizes that living donor exchange is currently the best solution to the problem of incompatibility between willing living donors and their potential recipients when no other living donor options exist.
- Blood typing
- Tissue typing
- Cross matching
- Antibody screening
These tests help to determine how well the donor's organ will be accepted by the patient's body after transplant.
What If You & the Recipient Are Not Compatible?
In the event that a potential living donor is incompatible with their intended recipient and a nonrelated living donor is unavailable, a living organ exchange is another option available at Jefferson.
Jefferson’s Transplant Program recognizes that living donor exchange is currently the best solution to the problem of incompatibility between willing living donors and their potential recipients when no other living donor options exist.
Benefits of Donating
Living donor transplants offer several benefits over deceased donor transplants, including:
- Better short- and long-term survival rates for recipients
- Less time spent on a waiting list, which may prevent deterioration of health or the need to start dialysis
- Responsiveness — living-donor organs almost always work immediately; there can be a delay in function in deceased donor organs