https://www.healio.com/news/nephrology/20260505/qa-whats-new-in-living-kidney-donation-evaluation-and-counseling (https://www.healio.com/news/nephrology/20260505/qa-whats-new-in-living-kidney-donation-evaluation-and-counseling)
Q&A: What's new in living kidney donation, evaluation and counseling
Key takeaways:
- Innovations in living donation counseling include genetic testing, a race-neutral eGFR equation and hypertension guidelines.
- Clinicians can ask patients with advanced CKD what they know about living donation.
Living kidney donation has received increased attention in clinical practice and in the media since the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes published clinical practice guidelines on living donation in 2017.
In a review published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Krista Lentine, MD, PhD, medical director of living donation at the SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital Transplant Center, and colleagues highlighted insights that have emerged since the KDIGO guideline publication. Among these, genetic testing, use of a race-neutral eGFR equation (https://www.healio.com/news/nephrology/20260320/waittime-policy-tied-to-increased-kidney-transplant-rates-for-black-candidates) and hypertension guidelines have led to changes that may be considered in future guideline updates, they wrote.
Outside of the review, recent news stories, such as actor Jesse Eisenberg's kidney donation, have also brought public awareness to the act of living kidney donation. Eisenberg made a nondirected kidney donation in late 2025.
In addition, policy-driven movements (https://www.healio.com/news/nephrology/20241209/asn-champions-proposed-bill-to-expand-living-kidney-donations) to expand access and support for living donation are being proposed at the federal level.
Healio spoke with Lentine about how clinicians can inform patients about the benefits and risks for living donation and the power of storytelling in building awareness.
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