When you come to our hospital for a kidney transplant, you must come together with your donor and bring identification documents and all documents of relationship, which must be certified with an apostille by the consular department of the Foreign Ministry, translated into Turkish and certified by the Consulate of the Republic of Turkey in Sofia. It is recommended that both the donor and the recipient come to the hospital in the morning on an empty stomach.
Tests that are done in preparation for a kidney transplant
Tests required for the recipient:
- Complete blood count
- Urine test
- Radiography of the lungs
- ECG
- USG - Ultrasound of breasts, mammography (for women)
- Ultrasonography of the whole abdomen
- Donor-recipient tissue compatibility
- 24-hour urinalysis if recipient is not on haemodialysis
Examination by specialists:
- Nephrologist
- Cardiologist
- Gynaecologist (for women)
- Pulmonologist (lung disease specialist)
- Urologist
- Psychiatrist
Tests that are necessary for the donor:
- Complete blood count
- Urine test
- Radiography of the lungs
- ECG
- USG - Ultrasound of the breasts, mammogram (for women)
- Ultrasonography of the whole abdomen
- Donor-recipient tissue compatibility
- 24-hour urinalysis (proteinuria, creatinine clearance)
- CT scan of kidneys (scanner)
Examination by specialists:
- Nephrologist
- Cardiologist
- Gynaecologist (women)
- Pulmonologist (lung disease specialist)
- Urologist
- Psychiatrist
Normal kidney function
Kidneys are organs whose function is essential to sustain life. Most people are born with two kidneys. Kidneys perform several essential functions to keep the body healthy.
- Filtering the blood to remove waste products from normal body functions, passing waste from the body such as urine and returning water and chemicals back into the body if needed.
- Regulating blood pressure by releasing several hormones.
- Stimulating red blood cell production by releasing the hormone erythropoietin.
Common causes of end stage renal disease
- Polycystic kidney disease
- Diabetes mellitus
- High blood pressure
- Anatomical problems of the urinary tract
Kidney transplant
Kidneys for transplant come from two different sources: a living donor or a deceased donor.
The living donor
Sometimes family members, including brothers, sisters, parents, children. uncles, aunts, cousins, or a spouse or close friend, would like to donate a kidney. This person is called a "living donor." The donor must be in very good health. Any healthy person can donate a kidney safely.
Deceased donor
A deceased donor kidney comes from a person who has suffered brain death. The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act allows anyone to consent to organ donation for transplantation at the time of death and allows families to grant such permission. After a permission for donation is granted, the kidneys are removed and stored until a recipient is chosen.
Transplant evaluation process
Regardless of the type of living donor or deceased donor, blood tests must be done to determine what type of blood and tissue are present. These results help match the kidney to the recipient.
Compatible blood groups for kidney transplantation
The first test establishes the patients’ blood type. There are four blood types: A, B, AB, and O. Each one fits into one of these inherited groups. The recipient and donor must have the same blood type or compatible blood types, unless they are participating in a special program that allows donation of different blood types.
The list below shows compatible types:
Donor blood type must be A or O
If recipient is B, donor blood type must be B or O
If the recipient is O, the donor's blood type must be O
If the recipient's blood type is AB, the blood type can be A, B, AB, or O
The AB blood type is the easiest to match because this person accepts all other blood types.
Blood type O is the most difficult to match. People with blood type O can donate to all types, but they can only receive kidneys from blood type O donors. For example, if a patient with blood type O receives a kidney from a donor with blood type A, the body will recognize the donor kidney as foreign and destroy it.