Implications of excess weight on kidney donation: Long-term consequences of donor nephrectomy in obese donors

Background An elevated body mass index (>30 kg/m2) has been a relative contraindication for living kidney donation; however, such donors have become more common. Given the association between obesity and development of diabetes, hypertension, and end-stage renal disease, there is concern about the long-term health of obese donors. Methods Donor and recipient demographics, intraoperative parameters, complications, and short- and long-term outcomes were compared between contemporaneous donors—obese donors (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2) versus nonobese donors (body mass index Results Between the years 1975 and 2014, we performed 3,752 donor nephrectomies; 656 (17.5%) were obese donors. On univariate analysis, obese donors were more likely to be older (P 30 days) readmissions. Estimated glomerular filtration rate and rates of end-stage renal disease were not significantly different between donor groups >20 years after donation (P = .71). However, long-term development of diabetes mellitus (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 3.14; P Conclusion Obese donors develop diabetes mellitus and hypertension more frequently and earlier than nonobese donors after donation, raising concerns about increased rates of end-stage renal disease.