BALTIMORE-Four years after the advent of laparoscopic nephrectomy at University of Maryland Medical Center, physicians there are crediting the procedure--along with an educational program for patients and family members--with increasing the number of living-donor kidney transplants.
Prior to the use of the educational program and the laparoscopic procedure, 12% of eligible patients found a live kidney donor, but the number then grew to 25%.
"The educational program and the less invasive method of donating a kidney have more than doubled the chance that a patient with kidney failure today will receive a transplant from a friend or loved one, compared to just a few years ago," said Stephen Bartlett, MD, director of transplant surgery at the medical center.
Dr. Bartlett, who conducted a study of the impact of laparoscopic nephrectomy, presented the findings on April 7 at a meeting of the American Surgical Association. A press release issued by the medical center also described the following results:
* About 94% and 90% of the kidneys removed laparoscopically were still functioning one and three years after transplantation, respectively.
* Among the living donors whose kidneys were removed laparoscopically, 32% were distant relatives or were unrelated to the recipients, and 39% traveled from outside of Maryland to donate their kidney.
The medical center said that it has the nation's largest kidney transplant program and has performed about 460 laparoscopic kidney removals from living donors-the most in the world.
For Your Information:
The medical center posts its statement at www.umm.edu/features/laparo.html.
Please be aware that medical advice, diagnoses and physician references cannot be obtained from this site.