Exchanging Kidneys — Advances in Living-Donor Transplantation

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first successful kidney transplantation from a living donor to his identical twin. Over the ensuing five decades, kidney transplantation has progressed from an experimental procedure to a widely accepted treatment for end-stage renal disease. The practice of kidney transplantation has also evolved remarkably, no longer depending on the unpredictable availability of a deceased organ donor; kidney transplantation from living donors has become the predominant approach. The superior outcomes of transplantation from living donors and the advent of laparoscopic nephrectomy (which carries minimal risk for healthy donors) have propelled this change in practice. . . .