Kidney Transplant Health Article

BOOKS

Cameron, J. S. Kidney Failure: The Facts. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Finn, Robert, ed., et al. Organ Transplants: Making the Most of Your Gift of Life. Cambridge, MA: O'Reilly Publishing, 2000.

Mitch, William, and Saulo Klahr, eds. Handbook of Nutrition and the Kidney, 4th edition. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins, 2002.

Parker, James, and Philip Parker, eds. The 2002 Official Patient Sourcebook on Kidney Failure. San Diego: Icon Health Publications, 2002.

University Renal Research and Education Associates (URREA); United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). 2002 Annual Report of the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network and the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients: Transplant Data 1992–2001. Rockville, MD: HHS/HRSA/OSP/DOT, 2003. <http://www.optn.org/data/annualReport.asp.>.

U.S. Renal Data System. USRDS 2002 Annual Data Report. Bethesda, MD: The National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, 2003.

PERIODICALS

Waller, J. R., et al. "Living Kidney Donation: A Comparison of Laparoscopic and Conventional Open Operations." Postgraduate Medicine Journal 78, no. 917 (March 2002): 153.

ORGANIZATIONS

American Association of Kidney Patients. 3505 E. Frontage Rd., Suite 315, Tampa, FL 33607. (800) 749-2257. info@aakp.org. <http://www.aakp.org>.

American Kidney Fund (AKF). Suite 1010, 6110 Executive Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20852. (800) 638-8299. helpline@akfinc.org. <http://www.akfinc.org>.

National Kidney Foundation. 30 East 33rd St., Suite 1100, New York, NY 10016. (800) 622-9010. <http://www.kidney.org>.

United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). 700 North 4th St., Richmond, VA 23219. (888) 894-6361. <http://www.transplantliving.org>.

United States Renal Data System (USRDS). USRDS Coordinating Center, 914 S. 8th St., Suite D-206, Minneapolis, MN 55404. (612) 347-7776. <http://www.usrds.org>.

OTHER

Infant Kidney Transplantation. Lucille Packard Children's Hospital. 725 Welch Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304. (650) 497-8000. <http://www.lpch.org/clinicalSpecialtiesServices/COE/Transplant/KidneyTransplant/infantAdultToinfantKidneyTransplant.html>.

A Patient's Guide to Kidney Transplant Surgery. University of Southern California Kidney Transplant Program. <http://www.kidneytransplant.org/patientguide/index.html>.

Paula Anne Ford-Martin

WHO PERFORMS THE PROCEDURE AND WHERE IS IT PERFORMED?

A kidney transplant is performed by a transplant surgeon in one of more than 200 UNOS-approved hospitals nationwide. If the patient has no living donor, he or she must go through an evaluation procedure to get on the UNOS national waiting list and the UNOS Organ Center's UNet database.

QUESTIONS TO ASK THE DOCTOR

• How many kidney transplants have both you and the hospital performed?
• What are your transplant success rates? How about those of the hospital?
• Who will be on my transplant team?
• Can I get on the waiting list at more than one hospital?
• Will my transplant be performed with a laparoscopic or an open nephrectomy?
• What type of immunosuppressive drugs will I be on post-transplant?