Ao. Ojo et al., Survival in recipients of marginal cadaveric donor kidneys compared with other recipients and wait-listed transplant candidates, J AM S NEPH, 12(3), 2001, pp. 589-597
An increasing number of cadaveric kidney transplants are now performed with
organs from donors who would have been deemed unsuitable in earlier times.
Although good allograft outcomes have been obtained with these marginal do
nor transplants, it is unclear whether recipients of marginal kidney transp
lants achieve a reduction in long-term mortality as do recipients of "ideal
" kidneys. Patients with end-stage renal disease registered on the cadaveri
c renal transplant waiting list between January 1, 1992, and June 30, 1997,
were studied for mortality risks according to three outcomes: wait-listed
on dialysis treatment with no transplant (WLD); transplantation with margin
al donor kidney (MDK); and "ideal" or optimal donor kidney transplantation
(IDK). Thirty-four percent of wait-list registrants had received a cadaveri
c kidney transplant by June 30, 1998. Of these, 18% received a marginal kid
ney that had one or more of the following pretransplant factors: donor age
>55 yr, non-heartbeating donor, cold ischemia time >36 h, and donor hyperte
nsion or diabetes mellitus of >10 yr duration. Five-year graft and patient
survival was 53% and 74% for MDK recipients compared with 67% (P < 0.001) a
nd 80% (P < 0.001) for IDK recipients. Adjusted annual death rate and estim
ated remaining life time was 6.3%, 4.7%, and 3.3% and 15.3 yr, 20.4 yr, and
28.7 yr for WLD, MDK, and IDK groups, respectively. The average increase i
n life expectancy for MDK recipients compared with the WLD cohort was 5 yr,
although this benefit Varied from 3 to 10 yr depending on the recipient's
characteristics. It is concluded that transplantation of a marginal kidney
is associated with a significant survival benefit when compared with mainte
nance dialysis.