Kidney & Pancreas Transplant Evaluation & Listing

Whether you need a new kidney, a new pancreas, or both, the compassionate Virtua Advanced Transplant & Organ Health team will guide you through a series of medical tests needed to place you on the waiting list for an organ.

Our Approach to Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Evaluation and Listing

For nearly 50 years, Virtua Advanced Transplant & Organ Health has provided life-changing organ transplants to residents of New Jersey and beyond.

Our lifetime support of organ recipients, and their families begins with an evaluation, which includes personalized education and assessment with members of our highly experienced medical team. We guide you through your pre- and post-transplant experience, developing a care plan specific to your needs.

Beginning with our streamlined evaluation and listing process, we strive to shorten your wait for a new organ. If you’re on dialysis, this could mean less time receiving treatments.

We actively work to find you a new organ, including:

• Pursuit of living (kidney) and deceased (kidney and pancreas) donor organs from greater distances

• Participation in paired exchange (where two or more kidney patients whose living donors aren’t compatible each receive a kidney from the other’s living donor through a matching system) and remote donor transplants (where an individual completes their evaluation and surgery at a nearby transplant center instead of traveling to the recipient’s hospital) through organizations such as the National Kidney Registry to obtain organs from across the country

Hepatitis C Kidney Transplants

To help improve the availability of organs, we are now able to safely transplant a kidney from a donor who had hepatitis C into a recipient without the condition. Recipients receive medication before and after the transplant to prevent infection.

Evaluation for a Kidney or Pancreas Transplant

Your transplant journey begins with a phone call to our kidney/pancreas transplant referral coordinator. You will be asked a series of questions regarding your personal and health history, as well as any conditions that may affect a successful outcome. If you meet the criteria for a kidney or pancreas transplant, the coordinator will schedule your appointment for a full evaluation with our team.

What to expect during your kidney/pancreas transplant evaluation

The evaluation process for kidney and pancreas transplants is the same. You'll meet with a nurse coordinator, social worker, and either a transplant surgeon or transplant nephrologist. Other members of your transplant team will include a dietitian, pharmacist, and financial coordinator.

Your physician will perform a physical exam, talk with you about all aspects of your transplant surgery and guide you through the process of waiting for a new organ and maintaining your physical and emotional health.

You can expect to undergo:

• Blood tests to confirm your blood type and look for any viruses or diseases.
• An electrocardiogram (EKG) and echocardiogram to test your heart health. You also may need a stress test and cardiac catheterization.
• A chest X-ray to check your lung health.
• For women, a gynecologic exam and Pap smear. Women age 40 and older will also need a mammogram if they didn't have one in the past year.
• For men older than age 40, a PSA blood test if they haven't had one recently.
• A colonoscopy, based on your age and family medical history.
• Additional testing may be ordered depending on your results.

Appointments can last three to four hours, so you're encouraged to bring a loved one or other support person. If you are already listed for transplant at another hospital and are seeking to increase your chances of getting a new kidney, you must still be evaluated at Virtua Advanced Transplant & Organ Health.

Living Kidney Donors

If you are hoping to be a living kidney donor for a friend or loved one, you may be evaluated at the same time as the recipient or during a separate visit.

Listing and Waiting for a Kidney or Pancreas Transplant

Once your evaluation is complete, and the Virtua team determines you're eligible for a transplant, you'll be placed on a national waiting list managed by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). Authorized by the federal government, this organization maintains the database for all transplants in the United States.

The length of time patients need to wait for an organ varies greatly. The average wait time for a kidney in the South Jersey region is about four years. The wait for a pancreas is shorter.

How to shorten your time on the transplant wait list

• Living kidney transplantation:If you are having a kidney transplant or a pancreas after kidney transplant, one of the best ways to lessen your time on the wait list is to find a living kidney donor. A living donor can be a family member, friend, coworker, or even a stranger. Living kidney donors do not need to be a perfect match in tissue type with the recipient, but must have compatible blood types.

There are a number of programs that connect kidney donors and recipients from different parts of the country. These include:

• Paired/chain exchanges
• Remote donation

• Hepatitis C transplantation: To help increase the availability of donor organs, Virtua Advanced Transplant & Organ Health also accepts kidneys from donors who had hepatitis C. Thanks to antiviral medication taken before and after the transplant, recipients of these organs will not become infected with the condition. Let your transplant team know if you are willing to accept this type of organ.
• Multiple Listing: UNOS allows patients to be listed at more than one transplant center. This is called multiple listing, and may increase your opportunities to receive an organ sooner.

You may be listed at Virtua and any other hospital that provides transplant services. Please check with your insurance carrier to determine coverage of multiple listing evaluation services.

Finding the right organ for you

When an individual donates an organ, the UNOS system will generate a list of potential recipients based on objective criteria, including:

• Blood type
• Tissue type
• Medical urgency of the patient
• Time spent on the waiting list
• The distance between the hospital where the organ was donated and the potential recipient
• Additional factors that provide priority points on the national waiting list

Ethnicity, gender, religion, and financial status are not part of the matching system.

When you're matched with a donor organ, a Virtua transplant nurse coordinator will call you to ask you to come immediately to Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. It's important that you and your support people are reachable and prepared to go to the hospital at all times.