Ditching Standard Biopsies Could Provide More Kidneys for Transplant

From Medscape:

Many kidneys from deceased organ donors in the US that are discarded because of procurement biopsy results would function acceptably if transplanted, new research indicates.

Doctors analyzed data on a series of more than 1000 kidneys discarded in the US between 2015 and 2016 and found that 493 of these organs could be matched, in terms of biopsy-evaluated quality and other donor characteristics, to 493 kidneys that were actually transplanted in Europe, where transplant practice is less restrictive.

"Right now in the United States, half of all [donor] kidneys are biopsied to judge their quality," lead author Peter Reese, MD, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, told Medscape Medical News. "Unfortunately, 30 to 50% of kidneys that get discarded are thrown away because of biopsy findings."

But "there are some innovations going on in Europe that we can learn from," he explained.