Donor pretreatment in an unselected series of cadaver renal allografts

Abstract

In a single center, an unselected non-exclusion series of 78 consecutive cadaver renal allografts in 76 recipients was studied. Since 1971, using kidneys obtained from donors pretreated with large doses of cyclophosphamide and methylprednisolone, excellent clinical results with 2-year graft-survival of 70% 5-year graft survival of 66% have been obtained. The improvement in results is believed to be aided by the reduction in allograft immunogenicity due to short-term donor pretreatment. In this series, poor tissue-matching grades are notable, heavily transfused patients are few, 33 patients were high risk, and 43 patients were presensitized. In spite of these negative selection factors, the results obtained in this pretreated series, with 18% of graft losses due to rejection, are superior to those obtained in patients who did not receive pretreated allografts during the same time period, with 34% of graft losses due to rejection, and 2-year and 5-year graft survivals of 57% and 53%, respectively.