Impairment of renal function following liver transplantation

Although renal insufficiency following liver transplantation is not infrequent, only limited reports describe the incidence and progression of the kidney disease.

This single-centre retrospective analysis after successful liver transplantation between January 1985 and March 2002 defined the baseline serum creatinine at 50 days after liver transplantation to represent the renal function. The primary end-point was an increase of serum creatinine by more than 50% above the baseline.

Long-term data were available for 162 patients (84 women, 78 men) who received 167 liver transplants. The median serum creatinine level at 50 days after liver transplantation was 1.0 mg/dL (range 0.5-3.5 mg/dL). The median serum creatinine increased to 1.2 mg/dL (0.4-9.8 mg/dL) at the end of follow-up. Six patients (4%) experienced end-stage renal failure. Forty-one patients (25%) showed a 50% increase in the serum creatinine. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that 43% and 48% of patients had a deterioration of renal function at 10 and 15 years after liver transplantation, respectively. Patients at risk showed an increase of serum creatinine by 0.25 mg/dL/y. Only the recipient age was an independent risk factor for deterioration of renal function.

Although there is a high risk for the impairment of renal function after liver transplantation, progression of renal disease is slow and rarely results in end-stage renal failure within 10-15 years. However, patients at risk should be identified early to prevent further decline in renal function.