Human kidney preservation by flushing with intracellular solution and cold storage.

Simple flushing and cold storage of human kidneys for transplantation has not been accepted for preservation times exceeding 24 hours. A prospective study of 25 primary cadaver kidney transplants was performed to evaluate Collins C2 solution for human kidney preservation. Cold storage time was 10 to 23 hours in 14 cases and 26 to 44.5 hours in 11 cases. Seventeen (68%) of the kidneys had immediate, sustained function. The one-month function rate was 88%. There were no significant differences between the 10- to 23-hour and the 26- to 44.5-hour groups with respect to the incidence of first-week dialysis, one-month graft function, or mean lowest serum creatinine value. Human kidney preservation time can be safely extended beyond 24 hours with Collins C2 flushing followed by simple cold storage.