Successful kidney transplantation from an expanded criteria donor with long-term extracorporeal membrane oxygenation treatment: A case report

BACKGROUND Due to a shortage of donor kidneys, many centers have utilized graft kidneys from brain-dead donors with expanded criteria. Kidney transplantation (KT) from donors on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been identified as a successful way of expanding donor pools. However, there are currently no guidelines or recommendations that guarantee successful KT from donors undergoing ECMO treatment. Therefore, acceptance of appropriate allografts from those donors is solely based on clinician decision. CASE SUMMARY We report a case of successful KT from a brain-dead donor supported by ECMO for the longest duration to date. A 69-year-old male received a KT from a 63-yearold brain-dead donor who had been on therapeutic ECMO treatment for the previous three weeks. The recipient experienced slow recovery of graft function after surgery but was discharged home on post-operative day 17 free from hemodialysis. Allograft function gradually improved thereafter and was comparatively acceptable up to the 12 mo follow-up, with serum creatinine level of 1.67 mg/dL. CONCLUSION This case suggests that donation even after long-term ECMO treatment could provide successful KT to suitable candidates.