In Australia, kidney transplants were pioneered by the Royal Melbourne Hospital in the 1960s. Today, we continue our groundbreaking work.
The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) has the second largest kidney transplant service in Australia, transplanting patients from Victoria and Tasmania.
We are also the home of the Australian and New Zealand Paired Kidney Exchange (ANZPKX) program national coordination centre.
We often take on difficult transplants
The RMH transplant team has also continued to drive innovation in transplantation in Victoria and Australia, using kidneys often discarded by other units with excellent results.
All patients are considered for kidney transplantation and, while we cannot guarantee that everyone will be suitable, if we can transplant you we will tell you.
The RMH kidney transplantation program is known for taking on many difficult transplants, often those that other services cannot perform.
Contact the Kidney Transplant Coordinators for more information.
The RMH Kidney Transplant Coordinators organise live kidney donors and their recipients, as well as manage the deceased donor program for people who are eligible for kidney transplant.
Kidney Transplant Coordinators are responsible for:
- Arranging blood work pre-transplant or donation testing
- Help getting ready for a kidney transplant or preparing for kidney donation
- General monitoring
- Providing information about becoming a donor and conducting education sessions for donors, recipients and their families
- Linking patients with internal and external service providers for care and assistance
- Transplant and donation after-care
We have one of the highest numbers of patients listed for transplantation, and are able to list patients for transplantation more swiftly than any other unit in Victoria (Victorian KPIs).
We lead the transplant collaborative in finding a way to introduce standardised consent forms across the state and looking at other transplant-related issues.
The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) kidney transplant patients can have their transplant medications posted to them, or dispensed in advance for pick-up from our pharmacy.
Find out moreWe perform many kidney transplants from living donors. A living donor is someone who elects to donate a kidney to another person, often a relative or close friend. Sometimes the recipient is unknown to the donor – this is known as a non-directed or altruistic donation.
Find out moreOur research
We have research projects looking at:
- Post-transplant viral infection
- The use of marginal deceased donor organs and kidneys from donors with acute kidney injury
- Outcomes of kidneys from donors after cardiac death
- Reduction of perioperative graft vascular complications
- Reducing the risk of recipient kidney malignancies
- The outcomes of treatment of antibody-mediated rejection
- Post-transplant kidney bone disease
- Mineral trafficking after transplantation
Our breakthroughs
In 2006, the RMH successfully performed Australia's first kidney transplant across incompatible blood groups.
Since then, the RMH has gone on to pioneer ABO blood group incompatible (ABOi) kidney transplantation in Australia. We have performed more of these kidney transplants than any other unit across the country.
We have developed new protocols for ABOi transplants, making the procedure safer and available to more patients. Our cohort of patients who have undergone this procedure is one of the largest in the world, and our outcomes are among the best of all published experiences.
We continue to develop new approaches to this procedure and present and publish this work internationally.
Our ABOi transplant program has underpinned the success of the Australian and New Zealand Paired Kidney Exchange (ANZKX) program.
We have also now performed some of the first ABOi transplants from deceased donors, opening a new avenue for transplanting kidneys and other organs across a previously absolute barrier.
The RMH kidney transplantation team has one of the largest experiences in Australia of transplanting ‘highly sensitised’ patients with antibodies directed against human leukocyte antigens (HLA) molecules of their donor.
This technically demanding and difficult area is now a focus in all solid organ transplantation - although the bulk of experience and data remains in kidney transplantation.
We have continued to incorporate new approaches and technologies into the transplantation of these patients, including:
- Combinations of kidney paired donation
- ABOi transplantation to avoid HLA antibodies
- ‘Desensitisation’ to remove antibodies
- The pioneering use of new therapies to block the pathogenic effect of HLA antibodies
Our outcomes
Despite transplanting more complex patients (often with a greater range of medical comorbidities), we have excellent kidney transplant outcomes at the RMH.
Our patient survival is better than most other units, and significantly better than the aggregate of other centres in Australia and New Zealand.
This is in part related to our use of progressive refinements in our immunosuppressive management and a different approach to the treatment of rejection, which remain areas of research.
Find out more about our Kidney Transplantation service.
Kidney transplantation explained
Kidney transplantation information
Kidney transplantation from a living donor
Viral risks of kidney transplantation
Fertility and pregnancy post-transplant
Medical aspects of kidney transplantation
Kidney transplant journeys
This video about kidney transplant and dialysis is designed for First Nations people with kidney problems.
Reflections of participants around their experience of the Australian and New Zealand Paired Kidney Exchange Program (ANZKX).
This video from DonateLife has information for transplant recipients who may like to write a letter or card to a donor's family.
300 Grattan St, Parkville, Victoria