Too many donor kidneys are discarded in U.S. before transplantation

When kidneys are removed from deceased organ donors in the United States, they are often subjected to "procurement biopsies" and are discarded if certain abnormalities are seen in the kidney tissue—a practice that worsens the already-severe shortage of transplant-eligible kidneys in the country. However, a large portion of the discarded kidneys would function acceptably if transplanted, according to a new study from a team led by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Paris Translational Research Center for Organ Transplantation.