Ask the Experts - Living-related Kidney Donation?
A patient is considering donating a kidney to her brother. What will be the long-term morbidity for her as the donor?

The long-term risks after living-kidney donation appear to remain very low. Having 1 kidney per se does not put a person at any significant risk for developing kidney failure compared with people with 2 kidneys, unless there is traumatic injury to or malignancy of the solitary kidney. The literature shows that the long-term risks of renal insufficiency for living donors appear to be similar to those in the general population: development of hypertension and proteinuria.

If the donor is female and of child-bearing age, there appears to be no significant difference in pregnancy outcome when compared with the general population. Wrenshall and colleagues followed donors who later became pregnant. Seventy-five percent of pregnancies went to term without difficulty; there were no persistent problems with hypertension, proteinuria, or changes in renal function after delivery.

In conclusion, the long-term complications after donor nephrectomy still remain very insignificant. The benefits of the procedure clearly have the advantage.