New potential donor

[upnover]

Hi All,

I'm midway through all the tests for a potential kidney donation to a friend. I was told they dont do the actual rejection test till the very end because it is an expensive test. My question i:s what are the chances that Ì am not suitable because the recipient rejects the kidney. I understand for blood relatives it is much better. But what about non-family donations?

This is a great site I have found a lot of useful infomation here that is helpig me to keep going through with this.

[audrey12]

The final crossmatch is done a couple of days before admission, when you do your admission tests.  My recipient was right behind me at the hospital, having all the same tests, three days before the procedure.  I don't know the figures for positive crossmatch at that point but I do know it occasionally happens.  It's not common, though.

Another reason the final testing is important: If you should decide to back out (and you can do that all the way up to the time they put you under anesthesia), the transplant team will tell your recipient that the final tests found a medical issue that prevents you from donating.  Your recipient will never be told that you decided against it, for whatever reason.

[tom carr]

I donated my kidney (non-directed) this past October. I was told that the cross match testing was almost "routine" and seldom led to the donor being "disqualified".  If you have passed all of the tests thus far, including antigen matching, then the odds are greatly in your favor.

I wrote down my experiences during the whole process in a blog. You can read it at...........http://kidntrans.blogspot.com/.

Good luck!

Tom

[ohtobeahayes]

Hi! Congratulations on your upcoming donation!
I recall also being told that they do the final right before surgery because although it is very rare, it has happened that the match isn't a match anymore.  Something with our antigens and blood...it scared me to hear that, but that does not happen to most people.

Good luck!!!

[Fr Pat]

     The "final crossmatch" is done shortly before the scheduled surgery (even if it was also done earlier) because it is possible for the recipient to develop new antibodoes that were not present at the time of the earlier test. This can happen especially if the recipient has received a blood transfusion or other such treatment during that interval.
     Keep in mind that IF you are rejected as a donor for THAT recipient, but are otherwise suitable, you can arrange a "swap" with another pair in similar difficulty: you donate to that person and that's person's incompatible donor donates to your intended recipient.
       best wishes,
          Fr. Pat

[Orchidlady]

We were told that the second crossmatch was a relatively recent thing. The coordinator told us it came about as a result of a death that occurred (recipient) when they had developed antibodies between the initial crossmatch and the time of the transplant. They said it was now common procedure to do the second crossmatch no sooner than one week before the scheduled surgery date.

[donor99]

I'm not sure its a recent thing, maybe it varies from program to program, but at my program a final crossmatch has been done for over 40 years.

[Aries7]

I too was told that this is a routine test, and that while it could happen, normally the results did not change from the original antigen test.

Best of luck to you on your upcoming donation!

[smudge]

As I understand it (certainly in the UK), they do the most straightforward tests first, before moving on to the more complex ones.  So blood and urine came first, then ECG, heart stress test before the CT dye test scan and the meetings with the nephrologist and surgeon.  They said right at the start that there would be a final cross match (which was done 2 days before the transplant, the day before we were admitted for surgery) just to check there'd been no change since the first crossmatch tests were done.

I guess they could use that as an opportunity for the donor to back out at the last minute should they want to but as I understand it, antibodies etc can change as can whether the donor or recipient is CMV +ve or -ve so there is a possibility you could not be compatible at the last minute.

Good luck, anyway!

[upnover]

My Coordinator called me today and told me that things look okay from my last round of tests. So now I am scheduled for the CT scan and some other scan to see my Kidneys. Plus she said my Renal function is bang on for a 51 year old. The only issue was a small cyst on the left kidney which they want to look at further. Hopefully this wont be an issue.