Abstract

LIMA, Bruno A; MENDES, Miguel  and  ALVES, Helena. Kidney transplantation in the north of Portugal: donor type and recipient time on dialysis. Port J Nephrol Hypert [online]. 2013, vol.27, n.1, pp.23-30. ISSN 0872-0169.

Patients with end-stage renal disease who receive a kidney transplant are associated with a reduced risk of mortality compared with patients who remain on the waiting list. A longer wait time on dialysis is responsible for inferior health status and higher sensitisation to human leukocyte antigens at the time of transplantation. This leads to inferior long-term outcomes after transplantation. The aim of the study is to analyse recipients’ time on dialysis and waiting times for deceased and living donors in the north of Portugal for first single-kidney transplant. A total of 549 first single-kidney transplant recipients between 2008 and 2011 from Oporto transplantation units (Hospital de Santo António and Hospital São João) were included in our study. Characteristics of first single-kidney transplant recipients from living and deceased donors at time of transplantation were compared. Frequencies were compared using the chi-squared test and median times were tested using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test or by the Kruskal-Wallis test. Between 2008 and 2011 Hospital de Santo António (HSA) performed a significantly higher number of living donor kidney transplants (85.1%) than Hospital São João (HSJ) (14.9%). Both transplant units performed a similar number of deceased donor kidney transplants (49.5% performed at HSA and 50.5% at HSJ). For both transplant units, median time on dialysis for living donor kidney transplant recipients was shorter (11 and 13 months) than for recipients of deceased donor kidneys (59.5 and 53 months, respectively, p < 0.001). Between 2008 and 2011, median waiting time distribution was very similar between HAS and HSJ deceased donor recipients (35 and 36 months, respectively). As far as we know, this is the first study presenting kidney transplant recipients’ waiting times since implementation of the new Portuguese allocation system for deceased donor kidney transplant in August 2007.

Keywords : Deceased donor kidneys; living donor kidneys; renal transplant; time on dialysis; waiting time.

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