Gender disparity of living donor renal transplantation in East China

Gender disparity among living kidney donors is common world wide, which demonstrates different social and economic problems in different countries. However, few data are available for China. Therefore, we retrospectively analyzed all 139 living donor renal transplants performed in our center between 2003 and 2010. The annual number of living donor renal transplants increased from six to 26 cases per year during the observation period. Among them, 69.2% of all kidney donors were females, whereas 79.5% of the recipients were male. The average age of recipients was 34.1 ± 7.6 yr and 94% (110/117) were younger than 44 yr. In contrast, 53% (62/117) of all donors were “middle‐aged” (45–59 yr) with an average donor age of 47.8 ± 9.2 yr. The first‐degree relatives accounted for the majority of the donor pool, as the most common donor‐recipient combination consisted of mother to son. In conclusion, there was a male and young preponderance among recipients, and a female and middle‐aged one among donors of living kidney transplants in our transplant center, which might be related to socio‐cultural as well as economic factors.