I would rather have a transplant than go on dialysis. Is that possible? My brother has offered to be my donor. How do we get started?

You would start by having your nephrologist refer you to a kidney transplant program. At your first visit you are given information for any potential donors to call the live donor nurse coordinator. The live donor nurse coordinator briefly interviews your brother over the phone to make sure there were no obvious contraindications to donation and verify your donor’s blood type.

When a person wishes to donate a kidney to a friend or relative, tests must be performed to be sure they are compatible. The first compatibility testing that is done is routine blood typing. This determines one set of antigens (chemical structures or molecules) that are present on red blood cells and also on all the body’s tissues and organs, including the kidney. If a donor and recipient do not have compatible blood types, a very strong immune reaction (rejection) occurs, causing severe damage and generally loss of the kidney. Possible blood types are A, B, AB, or O. Recipients who are blood type O can only receive kidneys that are also blood type O. Recipients who are blood type AB may receive kidneys from all blood types. Recipients who are blood type A may receive kidneys from blood types A or O. Recipients who are blood type B may receive kidneys from blood types B or O. Blood type O is sometimes called the “universal donor” because it can be donated to all other blood types, whereas blood type AB is sometimes called the “universal recipient” because it can receive all other blood types.

As with deceased donor transplants, HLA testing is the second type of compatibility testing that is performed.

The crossmatch gives us a glimpse into the future of how your immune system would react to your brother’s kidney.

You need to complete your transplant evaluation and be accepted to the deceased donor kidney transplant list before proceeding with live donation.