Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Dec 1;22(1):397.
doi: 10.1186/s12882-021-02609-2.

Safety, clinical and laboratory characteristics of donors with thalassemia minor in living donor kidney transplant: a case series

Nhan Hieu Dinh  1   2 , Suzanne Monivong Cheanh Beaupha  3
Affiliations

Safety, clinical and laboratory characteristics of donors with thalassemia minor in living donor kidney transplant: a case series

Nhan Hieu Dinh et al. BMC Nephrol. .

Abstract

Background: Due to the increasing demand for kidney transplants, sometimes donors with underlying medical conditions can be considered for living kidney donor transplant. Thalassemia is amongst the most common inherited disorders of hemoglobin globally, which is not restricted as an exclusion criterion. However, there is currently no study examine the safety and characteristics of kidney donors with thalassemia minor.

Methods: All eligible live kidney donors between 2016 and 2019 with thalassemia minor at a tertiary hospital were recruited. Baseline characteristics, clinical and laboratory outcomes were investigated.

Results: Fifteen donors (11 women, 55.5 ± 15.0 year-old) were included with a follow-up duration of 2 (1-4) years since operation. The most prevalent gene mutation among participants was DEL-SEA. No clinical manifestations of anemia were seen but 10 participants had mild anemia diagnosed from blood tests. Cardiovascular, liver and renal function were normal before nephrectomy. Until now, all donors are alive and maintain overall good health. Anemia condition is not affected, and the post-donation eGFR = 71.04 ± 11.54 mL/min/1.73m2 is comparable to outcomes of healthy donors reported in previous studies. Two donors are at risk of proteinuria at 1-year post-transplant with A/C ratio > 30 mg/g.

Conclusions: Thalassemia minor individuals who are non-transfusion-dependent, without anemia clinical manifestations and have no contraindications to kidney donation are safe to be donors in short-term. An eGFR of at least 80 mL/min/1.73m2 should be considered to avoid low post-donation eGFR, and awareness should be raised on thalassemia donors with even mild albuminuria. Nephrectomy does not worsen thalassemia.

Keywords: Donors; Living donor kidney transplant; Safety; Thalassemia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Tan JC, Gordon EJ, Dew MA, Rudow DL, Steiner RW, Woodle ES, Hays R, Rodrigue JR, Segev DL. Living donor kidney transplantation: facilitating education about live kidney donation—recommendations from a consensus conference. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2015;10(9):1670–1677. doi: 10.2215/CJN.01030115. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lu Y-W, Yang C-C. The current status of kidney transplantation in Taiwan. Ann Transplant Res. 2017; 1 (2) 2017, 1006.
    1. Garcia GG, Harden P, Chapman J. The global role of kidney transplantation. Kidney Blood Pressure Res. 2012;35(5):299–304. doi: 10.1159/000337044. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Garg AX, Levey AS, Kasiske BL, Cheung M, Lentine KL. Application of the 2017 KDIGO guideline for the evaluation and care of living kidney donors to clinical practice. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2020;15(6):896–905. doi: 10.2215/CJN.12141019. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Xu XM, Zhou YQ, Luo GX, Liao C, Zhou M, Chen PY, Lu JP, Jia SQ, Xiao GF, Shen X. The prevalence and spectrum of α and β thalassaemia in Guangdong Province: implications for the future health burden and population screening. J Clin Pathol. 2004;57(5):517–522. doi: 10.1136/jcp.2003.014456. - DOI - PMC - PubMed