Kidney transplant

A kidney transplant replaces a failed kidney with a healthy donated kidney, either from a deceased donor or from a living donor (related or unrelated). Recipients take lifelong immunosuppressive medications to prevent organ rejection. Transplant survival is significantly better than long-term dialysis.

Black patients are 30% less likely than white patients to receive a kidney transplant despite higher kidney-failure rates. The disparity is driven by waitlist access patterns, the retired race-adjusted eGFR (which delayed Black-patient transplant eligibility), and lower living-donor donation rates within Black communities. The 2021 eGFR update has begun to close part of this gap.