Abstract
Background and Aims
Kidney transplantation (KT) is considered to be the best option for renal replacement therapy (RRT) in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease, surpassing any dialysis technique in quality and life expectancy. However, results in terms of how pre-KT dialysis technique influences graft and recipient survival are mixed. Some studies show a higher incidence of vascular complications in the immediate post-transplant period and higher rates of acute rejection in patients coming from peritoneal dialysis (PD) versus those coming from hemodialysis (HD) while others observe a lower incidence of delayed graft function in the PD group of patients versus those on HD.
Our objective is to analyze if there are differences in immediate post-kidney transplantation and at 6 months of follow-up depending on the pre-KT dialysis technique, PD versus HD.
Method
Observational study of all patients with KT of cadaveric donor from the beginning of the KT program in our Center, from August 2011 to August 2019. We analyzed the characteristics of donors and recipients according to the technique (PD/HD), the evolution and complications in the immediate post-KT, as well as results at 6 months of follow-up in terms of complications, renal function and survival of the recipient and the graft. For statistical analysis we used SPSS 25. We compared qualitative variables by means of Xi2 test, and quantitative variables by t of Student, or U of Mann-Whitney if the variables did not follow a normal distribution. A value of p <0.05 was considered significant.
Results
121 patients were included, 71 of whom were in the HD group, versus 50 who were in the PD group. The recipients in the HD group were significantly older (57.2 vs 51.6 years, p 0,02) and stayed on dialysis longer (33.8 vs 26.8 months). We observed no difference in the recipient's cardiovascular history, except for increased smoking in the HD group (52.1% vs. 24%). The donor-recipient immune profile was similar in both groups. As for the incidence of delayed graft function, it was significantly lower in the PD group (14.9% vs 34.3%), finding no difference in renal function at hospital discharge or in days of admission. In the first 6 months of follow-up, we found no differences in terms of vascular, urological or infectious complications. There were also no differences in the incidence of acute rejection, renal function measured by creatinine (HD 1.47 vs DP 1.50 mg/dl) and proteinuria (HD 200 vs DP 216 mg/24 hours). Graft and recipient survival at 6 months of TR follow-up were similar in both groups.
Conclusion
In our experience, we have not found differences in the evolution at 6 months of the KT according to the modality of dialysis , nor greater incidence of vascular, immunological or other complications, with a survival of graft and receptor superimposable between both groups, PD or HD.
Delayed graft function and the risk of acute rejection in the modern era of kidney transplantation
