Donated Kidney.... Hypothetical Question.

[ferlew]

I was chatting with the lady who grooms my dogs today. About 2/3 years ago, she donated a kidney to her husband. (The difference it made was amazing.)
Anyway, as usual I asked after him, she told me he had an aneurysm in one of his heart valves that will be operated on soon.
I was relating this to son 2, and a strange question arose. If the hubby should die, would the kidney be returned to the wife? I had no idea, so said I would ask here.

[ChillDoubt]

No, it would not.

[gness]

I very much doubt it, Ferlew....she will be living quite normally now with one kidney and doesn't really need the one she donated.

[ferlew]

Oh, she is Gness. We just got to chatting about him having three, and what if, in the future, she developed a problem.
Purely idle chit-chat on our part.

[ChillDoubt]

I'd quantify my answer by adding that the vessels that supplied the donor kidney would have been tied off/diathermised during the procedure.
Re-attaching them would be a near impossible task.
Furthermore, there is the added risk that the kidney may have become exposed to some form of pathology by the recipient.
It simply would not be worth the effort.

[gness]

The risk of developing problems yourself if you donate is one you accept.
The risk of surgery to return a kidney would be too great I think....even if it could be done....and...depending on the type of kidney failure the husband suffered... the donated kidney could be in poor condition..x

[gness]

Hi, Chill....☺

[ferlew]

Cheers chilldout, like I said just idle chit chat.

[ChillDoubt]

Hello gness! x
No problems ferlew, just thought it good manners to add the reasoning rather than a short, sharp 'No'.

[ferlew]

She made a bonny job of my doggies though. :)

[237SJ]

When they transplant a kidney, they attach it to the arteries further down in the pelvis so if the donor got their old kidney back, it wouldn`t be sited where it was originally. Therefore, it wouldn`t make any difference if the original vessels were tied off.

[Peter Pedant]

No

and yes SJ is correct- the transplanted kidney is usually in the pelvis with the arteries and veins connected to the upper main leg vessels ( iliacs )

easy access if things go wrong

[ChillDoubt]

I've been told they only do that with the recipient because the non-functioning kidney remains in situ.
Why would they move it further down if the original donor was receiving it back?

Still, you could give it a go I guess:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/07/kidney-divorce-new-york

Best of luck with that!

[237SJ]

Because it functions perfectly well there and you said that the vessels would have been tied off?

[gness]

The donated kidney is placed in the lower abdomen on the opposite side to where it was in the donor for easy connection to the bladder...unless things have changed.

[Sqad]

Would it OR could it?

No it wouldn't, but yes it probably could. There is no anatomical reason why the husbands kidney couldn't be "hooked up" to any major abdominal arteries of the wife.

The main problem would be finding a surgeon who was willing to transplant a kidney into a perfectly healthy woman...........not easy ;-)

Dr. Frankenstein?

[ferlew]

I think I meant 'could' it. In the very long shot she herself succumbed to kidney disease.

[Credulo]

No, a human can cope well with only 1 kidney. It may however if she agreed be donated to someone on the transplant list.