Whether or not to accept a deceased donor kidney offer for a pediatric patient

The expansion of the number of children on the deceased donor renal transplant waitlist has far outstripped the supply of organs in most countries, leading to numerous adjustments to increase supply and to maximize the utility of donor organs. The system for organ allocation varies by country based on local laws, priorities, and resources. Adjustments are made to optimize allocation, enhance post-transplant survival benefit, decrease unequal transplant access, and optimize utilization of donated kidneys. Allocation of deceased donor kidneys is based on several criteria; however, the final decision to accept or reject the offered kidney is made by the potential recipient’s transplant team (surgeon/nephrologist). Several considerations including assessment of the donor quality, the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) match between the donor and the recipient, numerous recipient factors, the geographical location of the recipient, and the organ all affect the decision to accept the organ or not for a particular recipient. This decision must be made quickly, often on the spot. Maximizing the benefit from this scarce resource raises difficult ethical issues. The philosophies of equity and utility are often competing. In this manuscript, we highlight a representative case that helps to focus on important issues for the pediatric nephrologist to consider while making the decision to accept a deceased donor kidney offer for a particular pediatric patient.