"Each transplant center has its own level of comfort regarding the criteria they use to determine what organs they will and will not accept for transplant," Stratta added. "In the past, kidneys from donors with ARF were considered an absolute 'no.' Then they became a relative 'no.' After this study, I think it's safe to say that they are a relative 'yes' - there is a subset of these donor kidneys that can be safely and successfully transplanted with very good short-term results."

Over the last decade, the number of patients waiting for a kidney transplant has outpaced growth in the number of transplants performed each year. Between 1997 and 2006, the number of patients waiting for a kidney transplant increased by 81 percent from 49,208 to 88,877. During the same time, the number of annual kidney transplants performed in the United States increased by only 41 percent from 11,703 to 16,483. This escalating disparity in the number of end stage renal disease patients on the waiting list relative to those actually receiving kidney transplants has been accompanied by a startling increase in the number of deaths while waiting for transplants, from 2,184 in 1997 to 4,456 in 2006. In addition, median waiting times for kidney transplants have doubled in the last decade.

"Now that we know we can successfully transplant these kidneys and they will work just as well as other deceased donor kidneys, it becomes a decision of personal preference - the transplant center's level of comfort with using these kidneys, the patient's preference with accepting the kidney, and the general public's decision on whether or not to donate life," Stratta said.

Source: Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center