Technique of organ removal and fate of kidney grafts from liver donors.

The fate of 42 kidney grafts taken from heart-beating, ventilated donors at the same time as removal of the liver for allografting is reported, and is compared with 50 kidney grafts taken from heart-beating, ventilated donors whose ventilators were electively switched off either during or immediately before kidney removal. The fate of 32 kidney grafts taken from donors classified as "dead on arrival" at the admitting hospital is also reported. Onset of life-supporting graft function was significantly earlier among kidneys from the "liver donor" group. Consequently, immediate postoperative dialysis requirements were significantly less in recipients of this group of kidneys. Early graft survival, the incidence of graft primary nonfunction, failure of first and second kidney grafts, and recipient survival were not significantly different when comparing liver donor and "ventilator switch off" kidneys. No constant relationship was apparent in any donor group between graft fate and the anoxic and ischaemic times the graft was exposed to during organ removal and reimplantation.