Deceased kidney Donor Transplantation in Iran: Past, Presentand Future

Kidney transplantation in patients with ESRD requiring renal replacement therapy is preferable to dialysis as it provides a better quality of life and improved survival, as well as substantial cost-savings. Organ transplantation in Iran began as early as 1967, with deceased donor kidney transplantation in Shiraz (1). In 2000, the Iranian Parliament made organ retrieval from deceased donors possible by passing a law with the approval of the cessation of brain function as equivalent to death instead of accepting only conventional heart-lung criteria (2). Once this legislative initiative was made to respond to cultural and religious concerns regarding donation after death, the number of kidneys from deceased donors increased significantly. Less than one percent of kidney transplants came from deceased donors before passing the law; however, at the present time, deceased donor renal transplantations account for near to 20% of the annual transplantation in Iran (approximately 381 cases in 2008) (3). Fortunately, the proportion of organs from deceased donors is increasing in Iran.