Unrelated living donor kidney transplantation: A comparison with well‐matched cadaver grafts

Since 1966 we have performed 16 renal transplants from unrelated living donors (ULD) (14 were “emotionally related”). The recipients were non‐diabetic, ABO‐compatible (mean age 39.3 yr) and had a negative T‐cell crossmatch with their donor. We compared their results with those of 16 recipients of cadaver donor kidneys, matched for age, sex, immunosuppressive regimen and year of transplant. In addition to the standard immunosuppressive regimen, 15 ULD recipients were given a 3‐d pre‐transplant course of ALG. All recipients were given pretransplant blood transfusions, 10 underwent thoracic duct drainage, 11 were splenectomized, and 4 received donor‐specific transfusions. The results of transplantation from poorly‐matched ULD were as good as those obtained with well‐matched cadaveric grafts, perhaps because of the better preparation of the ULD recipients.