Data from: Attitudes among transplant professionals regarding shifting paradigms in eligibility criteria for live kidney donation

Background The transplant community increasingly accepts extended criteria
live kidney donors, however, great (geographical) differences are present
in policies regarding the acceptance of these donors, and guidelines do
not offer clarity. The aim of this survey was to reveal these differences
and to get an insight in both centre policies as well as personal beliefs
of transplant professionals. Methods An online survey was sent to 1128
ESOT-members. Questions were included about several extended donor
criteria; overweight/obesity, older age, vascular multiplicity, minors as
donors and comorbidities; hypertension, impaired fasting glucose, kidney
stones, malignancies and renal cysts. Comparisons were made between
transplant centres of three regions in Europe and between Europe and other
countries worldwide. Results 331 questionnaires were completed by
professionals from 55 countries. Significant differences exist between
regions in Europe in acceptance of donors with several extended criteria.
Median refusal rate for potential live donors is 15%. Furthermore,
differences are seen regarding pre-operative work-up, both in specialists
who perform screening as in preoperative imaging. Conclusions Remarkably,
23.4% of transplant professionals sometimes deviate from their centre
policy, resulting in more or less comparable personal beliefs regarding
extended criteria. Variety is seen, proving the need for a standardized
approach in selection, preferably evidence based.