FUNCTIONAL GLOMERULAR RESERVE IN RECIPIENTS OF EN-BLOC PEDIATRIC TRANSPLANT KIDNEYS

Background. The transplantation of an adequate renal mass is increasin gly recognized to be of importance, The improved graft survival is pro bably due to a lesser risk of developing hyperfiltration-associated le sions. Methods. We have reviewed the glomerular reserve in our recipie nts of en bloc pediatric transplant kidneys after an intravenous amino acid overload and compared them to single adult kidney transplant rec ipients, Results, En bloc transplants evidenced increased glomerular f iltration rate as compared with baseline as from the second hour of am ino acid infusion (from 71+/-14 to 84.9+/-17 ml/min, 1.73 m(2), P<0.05 ) and increased renal plasma flow as from the third hour (from 335+/-1 16 to 402+/-155 ml/min, 1.73 m(2), P<0.05). In the single adult kidney recipient group, no change was seen either in the glomerular filtrati on rate (from 62.5+/-13 to 58.1+/-13 ml/min, 1.73 m(2), P=NS) nor in r enal plasma flow (from 354+/-125 to 304+/-98 mi/min, 1.73 m(2), P=NS), Conclusions, These results show that patients receiving en bloc pedia tric kidney transplantations have a greater renal functional reserve a nd show a lesser risk of hyperfiltration.