Suggested Patient Selection Criteria for Initial Clinical Trials of Pig Kidney Xenotransplantation in the United States

There is a critical shortage of kidneys for transplantation into patients with kidney failure. Genetically-engineered pigs could provide an additional source. Increasing success is being reported of the transplantation of pig kidneys in nonhuman primates. Consideration is now being given to the selection of patients for the first clinical trial of pig kidney transplantation. In some US states, patients aged 55–65, particularly if of blood group O, may wait >5 years for a donor organ, by which time >50% are likely to have died or removed from the wait-list because they are no longer acceptable for transplantation. We suggest these patients, if otherwise healthy, might accept the opportunity of early pig kidney transplantation.