Analysis of 1,500 Kidney Transplantations at Sungkyunkwan University / 대한이식학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The most effective treatment for end-stage renal disease is kidney transplantation, and the number of kidney transplantations has shown a rapid increase. The aim of this study was to determine graft survival and functional outcome of 1,500 kidney transplant cases in a single center. We also investigated the factors affecting graft failure after kidney transplantation. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical data of 1,500 pairs of donors and subsequent recipients who underwent kidney transplantation in Samsung Medical Center, from February 1995 to January 2012. RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 2,241.5+/-1,609.4 days. There were 851 (56.7%) male recipients; 62 (4.1%) recipients were younger than 19 years old. Eleven (0.7%) cases were ABO blood group incompatible kidney transplant. A total of 531 (35%) deceased and 969 (65%) living donors were included. Among them, 191 (12.7%) recipients were experienced in graft failure. The most common cause of graft loss was chronic allograft nephropathy. One-year, 5-year, 10-year, and 15-year graft survival were 97.3%, 92.8%, 81.6%, and 75.1% (85.2% for living, 75.4% for deceased donor), respectively. Higher incidence of graft failure was observed in recipients who received deceased donor kidneys or experienced a rejection episode. CONCLUSIONS: In our experience, overall 10-year graft survival after kidney transplantation was 81.6%. This report demonstrated that the type of donor (living or deceased) and history of allograft rejection are the only significant factors affecting graft survival.