Transplantation is the preferred modality of replacement therapy for most patients with kidney failure. In the United States, more than 3,000 new patients are registered each month on the kidney transplant waiting list for this life-saving therapy. A potential kidney transplant recipient’s evaluation typically begins with a referral by the general nephrologist to a transplantation center. In this installment in the Core Curriculum in Nephrology, we endeavor to achieve a shared understanding of the patient factors that contribute to optimal patient and allograft outcomes following kidney transplantation. In addition, we provide a primer on the routine listing, evaluation, testing, and candidate selection process in an effort to demystify the current criteria commonly used by transplantation centers. Issues common to a majority of candidates, including cardiovascular health, frailty as a measure of biological age, history of prior malignancy, and high body mass index are reviewed in detail. With this knowledge, we hope to facilitate improved communication between general and transplantation nephrologists.

对于大多数肾衰竭患者，移植是替代疗法的首选方式。在美国，每月有超过3,000名新患者在肾脏移植等待名单上登记以进行这种挽救生命的治疗。潜在的肾脏移植接受者的评估通常从普通肾脏科医生转介至移植中心开始。在这本《肾脏病学核心课程》中，我们致力于对有助于肾脏移植后最佳患者和同种异体移植结果的患者因素达成共识。此外，我们提供了常规清单，评估，测试和候选人选择过程的入门资料，以试图使移植中心常用的当前标准神秘化。对大多数候选人共有的问题进行了详细审查，包括心血管健康，作为生物学年龄指标的虚弱，既往恶性肿瘤的病史以及高体重指数。有了这些知识，我们希望促进普通肾脏病专家和移植肾脏病专家之间的交流。