A MICROCOMPUTER-BASED TRANSPLANTATION REGISTRY

We describe a microcomputer-based program developed for the Brazilian Kidney Transplant Registry. The system can construct life tables and s urvival curves online, without the need to export the database. From 1 987 through 1993, 6069 kidney transplants were reported; 3485 (57.4%) were from living donors and 2584 from cadavers. The proportion of cada veric transplants increased from 28.5% in 1987 to 58.1% in 1993. Overa ll kidney transplantation activity was 8.1 patients per million popula tion per year. Sixty-four percent of the patients were male, and 71% w ere white. The mean age was 33.4 years. The primary renal diseases mos t frequently reported were glomerulonephritis (43.6%) and hypertensive renal disease (13.6%). Only 3.6% of the recipients were diabetic. Pat ient and graft survival rates have improved in recent years. We expect that cadaveric organ procurement programs will continue to develop in our country, increasing the number of organ transplantations and crea ting a more equal distribution of cadaveric organs.