Management: Registration for Transplantation

Kidney transplantation is a procedure that replaces a failing kidney with a healthy kidney. If a patient is deemed a good candidate for transplant, he or she is placed on the transplant program's waiting list. Dialysis patients wait for transplant centers to match them with the most suitable donor.

Figure 2.8. State variation in dialysis patients registered on waiting list for transplantation by State, 1999-2002

[D] Select for Text Description.

Source: University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center, 1999-2002.

Key: Above average = Rate is significantly above the all-States average in all 4 years of data (1999-2002). Below average = Rate is significantly below the all-States average in all 4 years of data (1999-2002).

Note: "All-States average" is the average of all responding States (51 in this case), which is a separate figure from the national average.

• Eight States^vii had rates above the all-States average in all 4 years from 1999 to 2002, with a combined average rate of 23.5% in 2002 (Figure 2.8).
• The national percentage of dialysis patients on the waiting list for transplantation improved from 14.7% in 1998 to 15.9% in 2002. However, the rate is well below the Healthy People 2010 target of 66%.

^vii The eight States are California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.

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