Prediction of kidney viability before transplantation.

A patient who receives a kidney transplant which fails suffers a physical and psychological disaster. Almost one-third of the kidneys transplanted in the United Kingdom are primary failures; many others function only after a delay, and the long term prognosis for these kidneys is poor. There is a need to identify kidneys which will function immediately after transplantation, those which will function after a delay and those which will never function. Such identification is seldom possible from the history. By continuous hypothermic perfusion we can identify a group of kidneys which will probably never function. The perfusate lactate level predicts which of the remaining kidneys will function immediately and which will not. Kidneys which function immediately after transplantation have a very much better long term prognosis after transplantation than those with delayed onset of function.