DIALYSIS OR KIDNEY TRANSPLANT?
When kidney failure progresses to the point where urinary waste products accumulate in the bloodstream, either dialysis or a kidney transplant is required. At different times, both may be needed by the same patient. During the first year, for instance, rather than accepting the first available kidney, which may not match well with the recipient’s tissues, it may be safer to continue dialysis until a kidney which matches well becomes available.
However, the record of the hospital where dialysis is being given should be taken into account. For instance, according to Medical World News (22#25:16), the success of dialysis (as measured by the percentage of patients surviving one year), varies from hospital to hospital by as much as from 55 to 85 percent.
After the first year, the success of dialysis falls so dramatically that a transplant then offers a much better chance of survival, even with a kidney that does not closely match the host’s tissues. Three-year transplant survival can vary between 65 and 85 percent, depending on how well the tissues match.
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