This educational activity consists of recorded presentations from 20th Annual National Conference held in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 4-6, 2011.
Overcoming the barriers to the organ donation crisis has been a focus for many years. Live donors represent the most promising new supply of organs that could decrease the relentless expansion of the gap between kidney supply and demand. Kidney paired donation offers the best transplant option for patients with incompatible live kidney donors. In addition, to maximize the chance of maintaining a high quality of life and avoid the morbidity of dialysis, as well as the associated financial costs, preemptive treatment utilizes transplantation as the primary renal replacement therapy in the absence of any preceding dialysis. This presentation will focus on costs associated with CKD and the financial and clinical benefits of preemptive renal transplantation, as well as its impact on the quality of life and the concept of kidney paired exchange to address the organ donor crisis.

Learning Objectives
At the end of this educational activity, participants should be able to

1. State barriers to the organ donation crisis
2. Discuss the financial and clinical benefits of preemptive renal transplantation
3. Review the concept of paired exchange in order to increase the number of transplants prior to end-stage kidney disease

Faculty
A. Osama Gaber, MD, FACS
Professor of Surgery
Weill Cornell Medical College;
Director, Transplant
Vice Chair, Administration and Faculty Affairs
Department of Surgery
The Methodist Hospital
Houston, Texas

Disclosures
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• Completing the entire activity
• Completing the Pre- and Post-Activity Assessments, Activity Evaluation, and Application for Certificate of Credit forms

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Sponsor
This activity is sponsored by OptumHealth Education.

Commercial Support
This activity is supported by Purdue Pharma LP.

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