The priority is to ensure that a planned kidney transplant does not create an unacceptable situation for either recipient or donor, and especially that the donor is not harmed. The aim is to have two healthy people after the operation. If there is any possibility that either person could be harmed, the preparation process is stopped.
Therefore, before someone donates a kidney, detailed examinations are required to ensure that living with one kidney will not create a problem for the donor. Before kidney transplantation, which is presented as an optimal treatment for kidney failure, the recipient must be evaluated just as thoroughly as the donor.
The purpose of these assessments is to identify problems that might emerge after transplantation, prevent them where possible, or explain to the patient why an operation must be canceled if a contraindication is present.
Examinations for the Recipient and Donor:
- Physical examination
- Detailed blood and urine testing and assessment of all organ systems:
- Blood group determination
- Complete blood count
- Biochemistry tests
- Coagulation tests
- Hepatitis markers
- EBV and CMV IgM and IgG
- TSH, PTH, HbA1c, beta-hCG, PSA
- Urinalysis
- Twenty-four-hour urine protein, albumin, and clearance measurements
- Microbiological tests (urine culture and, if needed, catheter and blood cultures)
- Immunological studies:
- Tissue typing
- Lymphocyte crossmatch
- Panel-reactive antibody (PRA)
- Single-antigen test
- Donor-specific antibodies
- Radiological studies:
- Posteroanterior chest radiograph
- Complete abdominal ultrasonography
- Pelvic Doppler ultrasonography for the recipient
- Renal CT angiography for the donor
- Consultations with other specialties as required:
- Cardiology
- Pulmonology
- Psychiatry
- Obstetrics and gynecology
- Urology, etc.
- Other tests and examinations:
- Electrocardiogram (ECG)
- Echocardiography
- Pulmonary function tests
- Mammography, breast ultrasound, thyroid ultrasound, voiding cystourethrography, and endoscopy (where indicated)