Kidney allocation in Germany. Current situation and possible further developments

Kidney transplantation can be offered to all patients with terminal kidney function in Germany, if they are healthy enough to receive an organ. For this process the patients are placed on the waiting list by Eurotransplant, which is based in The Netherlands and undertakes the distribution for participating countries. The aim of this cooperation is enlargement of the donor and recipient pools, in order to enable the best possible HLA match and, thus, improve transplant survival. Currently, organs are allocated primarily via the so-called standard allocation, including a high urgency program and the allocation for children but there are also special programs for highly immunized patients, for patients over 65 years and for kidneys which cannot be allocated by the standard method. 50 years after Eurotransplant was founded, it is time to reflect the pros and cons of this program and discuss possible further developments.     «

Kidney transplantation can be offered to all patients with terminal kidney function in Germany, if they are healthy enough to receive an organ. For this process the patients are placed on the waiting list by Eurotransplant, which is based in The Netherlands and undertakes the distribution for participating countries. The aim of this cooperation is enlargement of the donor and recipient pools, in order to enable the best possible HLA match and, thus, improve transplant survival. Currently, organs...     »