In most cases, the recipient's native kidneys are left in place, and the transplanted kidney performs all the functions that both kidneys perform in healthy people. Kidney transplant recipients are required to take immunosuppressive medications for the rest of the lives, to prevent immune rejection of the transplanted organ.
Updated by: Scott Miller, MD, Urologist in private practice in Atlanta, Georgia. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
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