Mayo Clinic: The shortage of kidneys needed for organ transplantation in the U.S. can be alleviated in part by using select kidneys with Acute Kidney Injury (AKI), resulting in safe and positive outcomes, according to research conducted at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Results of the single-site study, led by Raymond Heilman, M.D.,
Chair of the Division of Nephrology, suggest that acutely injured
kidneys from deceased donors can be considered for transplantation —
reconsidering previous thinking that such kidneys should be discarded.
Kidneys can result in acute injury when the organ ceases to function,
generally caused by heavy blood loss, severe infection, extreme
dehydration and some medications. At the same time, according to Dr.
Heilman, “The kidney has a remarkable ability to regenerate parts of the
organ that weren’t working.”
