Obesity May Contribute to Organ Shortage

Too fat to donate.

The pool of potential living kidney donors may be shrinking because of the national obesity "epidemic," researchers said here.

In a single-center study, almost a quarter of willing donors were initially excluded because they were too heavy, Mala Sachdeva, MD, of North Shore-LIJ Health System Transplant Center on Long Island, N.Y., and colleagues reported at the National Kidney Foundation meeting here.

And only a small percentage of those patients were ultimately able to lose enough weight to donate a kidney, despite their initial motivation, Sachdeva said at the group's poster presentation.

Although there are no established national criteria, most centers exclude living donors who have a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or above, because previous work has shown poorer outcomes for both donor and recipient.

Thus, America's expanding waistlines may be playing a role in the national organ shortage by shrinking the donor pool, the researchers said. Currently, about 92,000 patients are waiting for a kidney, Sachdeva added.

Except to donate fat.