A recent study published in Clinical Transplantation examined the socio-demographic characteristics and profiles of patients who register on recipient/donor matching Web sites in the United States. The research focused on ethical issues raised by the system of recipient/donor matching. The study found the pursuit of a living donor may be based on the persuasiveness of the recipients' appeal than on information relevant to transplantation.
 
Findings found patients may omit personal or medical characteristics which can contribute to bias or discrimination among potential donors. To further note, many transplant programs may not accept publicly solicited donor/recipient pairs from online services.

This article originally appeared in the November 2008 issue of Kidney Transplant Today.